ATLANTA – Freshman Lizzie Cui finished 13th in prelims to earn honorable mention All-America honors on three-meter during the second day of the 2016 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center.
Cui tallied a score of 316 in prelims to earn a spot in the consolation final. The New Zealand native returned for the consolation final and finished sixth with a score of 278.55. Cui earned the program’s 23rd All-America honor on three-meter.
“After what was arguably her worst performance on one-meter it was nice to see her put that behind her,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “She really stepped up today and it is a great accomplishment. Cassie dove well but she faltered a little bit on two dives, which just left her a little short of the final. She still has her best event tomorrow with platform.”
Weil just missed reaching the consolation final with a 17th-place finish and a score of 309.65. The senior and sophomore Madison Sthamann return to the pool tomorrow for platform.
On the swimming side, Colleen O’Neil and Taryn MacKenzie had strong showings by finishing in 19th and 21st place respectively. O’Neil touched the wall in 1:00.36 in the 100 breast. MacKenzie swam a personal best of 1:00.47 in prelims to win her heat.
“That was a great swim for Taryn. To maintain her composure and walk into NCAA’s and go a best time showed massive maturity on her part,” LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer said.
Senior Danielle Stirrat finished 42nd in the 200 free with a time of 1:46.82. Junior Kara Kopcso finished 33rd in the 100 fly with a time of 53.20.
The relay team of Caley Oquist, O’Neil, Kopcso and Troskot closed out the morning prelims with a 19th-place finish in the 200-medley relay (1:38.38).
“The challenge at this championship is how you react to adversity,” Geyer added. “We have some very big swims tomorrow that we have seen pieces of all week. It’s up to all of us to put the puzzle together and get some well-deserved results.”
A full recap will be available on lsusports.net at the conclusion of each day. For more information and updates on LSU Swimming and Diving please visit LSUsports.net, ‘like’ us on Facebook at LSU Swimming and Diving or follow us on Twitter @LSUswimdive.
Order of Events
Saturday
Prelims – 9 a.m.
Platform Diving Trials – 11:15 a.m.
15 minutes following trials – platform consolation final
3:45 p.m. – 4:50 p.m. – freestyle early heats begin
4:50 p.m. – Free last heat of timed finals
Finals – 5 p.m.
200 Back Consolation
200 Back Final
100 Free Consolation
100 Free Final
200 Breast Consolation
200 Breast Final
200 Butterfly Consolation
200 Fly Final
Platform Diving Final
400 Free Relay Consolation
400 Free Relay Final
Team Awards