University of Tennessee Athletics
Sanger Takes Third At NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships
March 15, 2001 | Women's Swimming & Diving
NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. -- Sophomore Jaime Sanger, a member of the University of Tennessee women’s diving team, took third place in the one-meter diving competition with a school-record and career-best score of 315.15 at the NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday at the Nassau County Aquatic Center. She is Tennessee’s first ever medallist on the one-meter at NCAA competition.
Sanger tallied a score of 293.20 in the morning round to enter the evening finals in third position. In her six dives during the evening session, her best dive came in the second round where she scored four 8.0s and three 8.5s for one of the best scores of the competition. The Plymouth, Minn., native finished 13 points ahead of fourth-place finisher Jenny Keim of Miami, a 2000 United States Olympian.
In the morning competition, Sanger had a solid opening round and even tallied three scores of 8.0 on her third dive. She has enjoyed a great deal of success on the one-meter already this year, including a win on the board at the 2001 Southeastern Conference Championships. She also earned her spot in the NCAA field on the one-meter with a fourth-place finish at the Zone B Championships. During the regular season, she tallied six first-place finishes on the one-meter, including an undefeated mark against conference competition.
The other two Lady Vol divers also had strong outings in the opening competition. Senior Lizzy Flynt scored on the one-meter at NCAAs for the first time in her career as she notched a score of 261.70 to finish in 13th. The Auburn, Ala., native’s previous best finish in the one-meter at NCAAs was 21st in 2000. Freshman Kylee Wells, a native of Russiaville, Ind., also had a solid showing by finishing 21st with a tally of 249.70 in her first NCAA meet.
The overall champion was Yulia Pakhalina of the University of Houston with a score of 329.60 followed by Katie Beth Bryant of Miami with a mark of 324.75 in second place. Pakhalina was the 2000 Olympic gold medallist in synchronized diving, won both of the springboard titles at her NCAA zone qualifying meet and is a former world champion on the springboard.
"We are all ecstatic about Jaime’s third-place finish," Tennessee diving coach Dave Parrington said. "She had a great morning performance and did an incredible job this evening. I am happy for her and look forward to great rest of the weekend for her as well. I am also extremely pleased with Lizzy’s performance. Overall, I am happy with the morning performances and the overall strength of the diving and the composure the divers showed."
Swimming and diving action will continue on Friday at the NCAA Championships. UT swimmer Pam Hanson will compete in the 100y backstroke and 100y butterfly while all three divers will compete on the three-meter springboard.
