Gillis Advances To NCAA Championships
Prelim Results | Finals Results
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Junior Nicole Gillis advanced to the NCAA Championships in the 3m springboard after her performance on day one of the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
One of 18 divers to advance to Monday’s finals, Gillis moved on after scoring her second-best score of the season (343.50) in the prelims, earning a fifth-place finish. The junior posted a 335.60 in the finals for a 12-dive total of 679.10 to finish fifth overall. Both of Gillis’ dives rank in the top four on the team, and she holds the top nine scores in the event by an Arkansas diver this season.
“Nicole had an outstanding day,” said diving coach Dale Schultz. “She had the easiest list of dives by still executed the extremely well.”
Gillis looks to improve upon her first career NCAA Championship appearance a year ago, as the Johannesburg, South Africa, native posted a six-dive total of 293.10 for a 25th-place finish in the 3m at the 2016 Championships.
Sophomore Molly Harvie finished 31th (254.75), freshman Caroline Welch finished 36th (240.65) and sophomore Marissa Green followed in 39th (223.75).
A total of 322 participants (281 swimmers and 41 divers) will compete in the NCAA Championships. Three Arkansas swimmers have received invites to the Championships, as Mary Margaret Soderberg (200 IM, 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke), Chelsea Tatlow (200 IM, 100 backstroke and 200 butterfly) and Ayumi Macias (200, 500 and 1650 freestyle) will all travel to Indianapolis to compete. The complete list of swimmers competing in the championships is available at www.usaswimming.org/ncaa. Selected divers will be announced Sunday, March 12, following the Zone Diving Meets that are being held March 6-11.
ESPN3.com will stream the championships finals sessions live on Friday and Saturday. Wednesday’s evening session, Thursday’s sessions along with the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live on NCAA.com and www.indianasportscorp.org/ncaasd. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast via tape delay at 7 p.m. Eastern time, Tuesday, March 28. Live results for the championships will be available on NCAA.com.
Competition picks back up for Razorback divers on Tuesday, as the 1m prelims start at 4:45 p.m.
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