Florida Gators
NCAA Zone B Diving Championships
Hernandez, Warner Advance to NCAA Championships on Final Day of Zone Diving Regional
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Men's Platform Results | Women's Platform Results | NCAA Qualifiers
ATHENS, Ga. – Junior Kahlia Warner added platform to her event list at the 2015 NCAA Championships while redshirt junior Zach Hernandez became UF's first male diver to advance to the NCAA meet since Mike Lewark did so in 2012, as the University of Florida men's and women's diving team's competed on the final day of competition at the NCAA Zone B Diving Regional in Athens, Ga.
Warner will compete on the one-meter, three-meter and platform dive in Greensboro, N.C. next week. She will be the first UF female diver to compete at the NCAA meet in any event since Monica Dodson in 2011.
Coming off setting a program record of 326.45 points in the platform finals at the SEC Championships, Warner was excited and ready for this event. The Queensland, Australia native did not disappoint, as she captured her highest finish of the week by placing third with a combined prelims (277.10) and finals (298.45) score of 575.55 points.
Hernandez, whose highest finish in any event at this meet happened yesterday when the Johns Creek, Ga. native finished in 16th on the three-meter, placed eighth with a combined prelims (303.90) and finals (332.00) score of 635.90 points. That mark placed him in the eighth and final NCAA automatic qualifying spot and just 1.60 points ahead of the ninth place finisher.
Before Lewark, a UF male diver had not advanced to the NCAA Championships since Jonathan Wilcox accomplished the feat in 2006.
Also on the men's side, redshirt freshman Dalton Goss rebounded from a poor score in the prelims (252.65) with a finals mark of 313.10 to place 13th overall with a combined score of 565.90 points.
For the women, Delaney Dye (214.05), Emily Mosher (195.95) and Lexie Martorana (190.40) placed 20th, 25th and 29th during the platform dive prelims.
Coaches Corner:
Diving Coach Dale Schultz
On Zach Hernandez advancing to the NCAA Championships and his performance today…
“Zach (Hernandez) was really consistent all day, both in the prelims and finals. Actually, he was stronger in the finals as it came down to just one point and he just did what he needed to do to advance. He got up there, competed, and beat other divers who were finalists at the SEC Championships. I'm just extremely excited and happy for him with all the hard work that he has put in this year. I'm looking forward to going to Iowa City with him in a few weeks to see what he can do.”
On Dalton Goss…
“Dalton's (Goss) finals performance was unbelievable. Dalton has really only been diving for a couple of years and for only about a year and a half on platform, so for him to score like he did in the finals was great. He improved every meet throughout the season, as each time he gets up there, he just really competes. I'm really excited about his future.”
On Kahlia Warner…
“Kahlia (Warner) was great. She was solid today as she has been all week. Today was a solid third place finish for her on platform and I'm just really excited for her. I'm looking forward to her going to Greensboro and being competitive to help our team score points.”
On the Gators performance this week overall…
“It's been a really good but long year. We've had our ups-and-downs with us all overcoming a lot of things emotionally as much as anything else. I feel we had a good solid meet overall as everyone improved and finished strong. We are all looking forward to building upon this success in the future.”
Next Up:
The women's NCAA Championships will be held next week from Mar. 19-21 in Greensboro, N.C. and the men's meet will be held in two weeks in Iowa City, Iowa (Mar. 26-28).
NCAA Championships Coverage:
ESPN3 will live stream the championships final sessions Friday and Saturday. Thursday's sessions (morning and evening), along with the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live via the link on the Division I Men's Swimming and Diving sports specific page on www.ncaa.com. Coverage of the championships will also be broadcast via tape delay on ESPNU at 6 p.m. Eastern time, Tuesday, March 31.
Looking Back:
Click here for a recap of day one's action.
Click here for a recap of day two's action.
Follow the Gators:
Gator fans are encouraged to follow the swimming and diving program via Twitter or Facebook.
