Xu qualifies for NCAA Championships on the one-meter board
AUSTIN, Texas – After an evening of diving for hours, senior Vicky Xu locked down her second NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship qualification in the one-meter event Tuesday night inside the Jamail Swimming Center.
The one-meter diving preliminary event was another triumph for the Jayhawks as junior Peri Charapich and Xu competed against 48 other athletes in hopes of finding a place in the top 18 to move on to finals.
Xu went into the final event after a seventh-place finish and 293.70 preliminary score. That score transferred over into her final six dives where she landed a mark of 586.00 with a seventh-place finish and her second NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships qualification in as many nights.
Head diving coach Gabe Downey is happy for Xu and her accomplishments as she rounds out her zone diving competition.
“Vicky again didn’t miss a dive,” Downey said. “Vertical every single time, clean, she did exactly what she needed to do. So she will get tomorrow off and then we will start getting ready to come back Monday and do it all over again.”
Charapich concluded the one-meter diving preliminary event with a 25th place and a score of 242.60.
“This was the best one-meter competition that Peri has had,” Downey said. “Just inherently, the scoring at this meet is tighter, but this is just the best one she has done. At the highest pressure meet, where the judging is hardest, just an outstanding job. I am blown away by what she (Peri) did today. It is the perfect example of, you trust the process, you just go to work everyday and you work hard and things just work out well for you. Just an outstanding job.”
Charapich goes into the waters for the final day of the competition tomorrow to compete in the tower diving event beginning at 2:20 P.M. CT.
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