LEXINGTON, Ky. — LSU divers Jamie Watkins and Barb Gorst each qualified for the 2002 NCAA Championships on Saturday after their performances at the NCAA Zone B Diving Regional held at the Lancaster Aquatic Center in Lexington.
Gorst, a junior from Calgary, Canada, won the women’s platform competition on Saturday evening with a score of 445.80. Gorst picked up her second major win in the event this season, also winning the platform at the 2002 Southeastern Conference Championships held last month at Fayetteville, Ark. Gorst scored a 469.45 at the SEC Championships, the best score of her career.
Watkins, a Three-Time All-American, finished 12th in the platform competition and sixth in the 3-meter event, qualifying for the NCAA Championships with a score of 501.30. Gorst placed ninth in the 3-meter with a score of 485.60. Senior Holly Winters finished seventh in the platform with a mark of 353.00, and was 28th in the 3-meter with a score of 233.55.
Miami’s Katie Beth Bryant finished first in the 3-meter competition with a score of 527.70. In the men’s 1-meter competition, Alabama’s Stewart B. Smith won with a score of 337.35. LSU junior Jace Pitre just missed qualifying, finishing seventh with a score of 292.00. Kyle VanArsdall placed 12th for the Tigers with a score of 267.70.
LSU was without the services of All-American Michelle Coryell and freshman Jessica Wantz for the weekend, as both are still suffering from injuries that have kept them out of action for months.
“It was too bad that we did not have either Michelle or Jessica here this weekend, because then we would have had a chance to qualify four or five divers,” said LSU head diving coach Scott Reich. “We did a nice job though, and I am happy that we have a couple going to the NCAA’s.”
Twelve men’s divers and 13 women qualified for the NCAA Championships during the two-day competition. The women’s NCAA Championships will be held on March 21-23 at Austin, Texas, and the men’s is March 28-30 at Athens, Ga.
LSU will look to have its third NCAA diving champion in the past four years. Ashley Culpepper was the 3-meter champion in 2000, and Watkins won the 1-meter competition in 2001.