Gamecocks add two more All-America performances on day three of NCAAs

March 17, 2018

South Carolina swimming and diving added two more All-America performances on night three of the NCAA Championships as Julia Vincent took third place in 3-meter diving while Emma Barksdale finished fourth in the B-Final of the 400-yard IM.

Vincent followed up Thursday’s second-place finish on the 1-meter board with a 361.75 score in the finals of the 3-meter competition on Friday. Barksdale touched less than a tenth of a second off her school record in the 400 IM, finishing in 12th overall.

DAY 3 RECAP

Barksdale qualified for the B-Final of the 400 IM with a 4:06.34, her third best time of the season, to begin the third day of competition for the Gamecocks. The junior came back with a time of 4:05.72 in the B-Final to finish with second-team All-America honors for a second time in as many nights.

Kersten Dirrane posted a time of 1:00.84 in the 100-yard breaststroke, while sophomore Albury Higgs finished the event less than three tenths of a second from a personal record with a time of 1:01.27.

Vincent made up for a slow start in the 3-meter dive with a 72.00 on the final dive of prelims to finish in sixth-place, qualifying her for the A finals. The reverse two and a half somersault pike earned an 8.0 or higher from six of the seven judges, including a 9.0 from one judge with a 3.0 degree of difficulty. Vincent logged a 3.0 or higher degree of difficulty on all but one of her six dives in the finals to grab her second podium finish of the NCAA Championships.

QUOTABLES

“This has been a great NCAA Championship for Julia (Vincent). She put together another great list of dives. She did not miss a dive tonight and was steady all the way through. What a way to finish her college career. Her third-place finish in the 3-meter dive was the highest finish in school history. Julia holds every springboard school record and outdid herself here with this performance.

Tomorrow is the platform where Mikaela Lujan will have her shot at becoming an All-American!”

— HEAD DIVING COACH Todd Sherritt –

UP NEXT FOR CAROLINA

The Gamecocks will conclude the NCAA Championships on Saturday with student-athletes competing in the 200-yard breaststroke and the platform dive. For updates, follow South Carolina Swimming and Diving on twitter at @GamecockSwim.