March 9, 2016

ATLANTA, Ga. — Freshman Allyson Nied and junior Jordan Gotro qualified to dive in the platform event the NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships on Wednesday as the University of South Carolina divers finished the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships. Nied finished third at Zone Diving to book her first career NCAA appearance, while Gotro placed fifth and will dive all three boards at nationals.

With Zone Diving in the rearview mirror, the Gamecocks now know their full roster for the upcoming NCAA Championships. The list includes men’s swimmers Cody Bekemeyer (1650 free), Kevin Leithold (800 free relay), Akaram Mahmoud (500 free, 1650 free, 800 free relay), Fynn Minuth (800 free relay) Tomas Peribonio (400 IM, 500 free, 1650 free, 800 free relay) and Nils Wich-Glasen (100 breast, 200 breast) along with women’s swimmers Emma Barksdale (400 IM) and Taylor Worrell (500 free).

On the diving side, Gotro (1-meter, 3-meter, platform) will represent the men while Nied (platform), Lauren Lamendola (1-meter, 3-meter) and Julia Vincent (1-meter, 3-meter) will compete for the Gamecock women.

WOMEN’S RECAP

The top seven finishers on Wednesday earned NCAA Championships spots on the women’s side. Nied qualified easily, posting a score of 546.30. Her best dive of finals, a Back 2 1/2 Somersault 1 1/2 Twist Pike, was marked at 65.60.

Sophomore Marissa Roth finished eighth on Wednesday, totaling a score of 497.80. Her best score, a 57.00, came in the Forward 3 1/2 Somersault Pike.

Sophomore Mikaela Lujan also made finals on Wednesday, placing 18th. Lujan tallied a cumulative mark of 423.05, with a Back 2 1/2 Somersault Pike grading out at 46.50.

MEN’S RECAP

After earning automatic qualifier spots in the 1-meter and 3-meter, Gotro needed to make the top 12 on Wednesday to dive the platform at the NCAA Championships. He had no issues meeting the requirement, placing fifth with a score of 689.80. His best dive of finals, a Back 2 1/2 Somersault 1 1/2 Twist Pike, was marked at 70.40.

QUOTABLES

HEAD DIVING COACH Todd Sherritt – “This Zone meet is a huge meet. Just making finals is hard to do, and sometimes we forget about that. But I am proud of all of our divers and the way they competed this week. Every single person dove well and showed real improvement. Now it’s time to refocus on NCAAs, and hopefully we will have quite a few divers make the finals and do great things there.” — On the overall effort of his divers this week

“Allyson did a great job today. She’s learned some technique and applied it at this meet. We hope to get her to peak next week. She’s learning how to compete more aggressively. She’s a deep thinker, and that’s great to have, but sometimes at the meet you’ve got to have more of an edge, and she’s doing that.” — On freshman Allyson Nied clinching an NCAA spot

“This is the first time Jordan made all three events at NCAAs. This was a tough meet in a lot of ways. The diving level was much higher than last year. He had a great day today. For him to get the score he got was a phenomenal accomplishment.” — On the great effort by Jordan Gotro all week

“I can’t enough say about the way Marissa dove. She’s one of the shining stars in our program. Her level of improvement is just incredible. Literally every coach here came up to me and told me how improved she is. She’s an incredible talent.” — On the efforts of Marissa Roth

NOTABLE

• Gotro’s score of 689.90 is a 12-dive career high on the platform and was just 1.75 points short of a Carolina program record.
• The Gamecocks are one of just eight schools to have three women qualify for the NCAA Championships in diving, with one Zone left to compete.

UP NEXT FOR CAROLINA

The NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships are scheduled for March 16-19, with the Men’s Championships booked one week later. Both events will take place at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga.