University of Tennessee Athletics
DIVER LAURYN MCCALLEY EARNS SPOT IN FIRST NCAA FINAL
March 21, 2002 | Women's Swimming & Diving
March 21, 2002
AUSTIN, Texas
Freshman Lauryn McCalley earned a spot in the finals of the one-meter springboard in her first event at the 2002 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. McCalley, along with senior swimmer Monica Shannahan, opened action on Thursday at the NCAA meet at the Jamail Family Texas Swimming Center on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.
McCalley ranks seventh entering the eight-woman final of the one-meter springboard on Thursday night with a score of 283.35. She trails a world-class field of divers, including the event leader and reigning World Champion Blythe Hartley of Southern California who had a preliminary score of 333.95. Defending NCAA Champ Yulia Pakahalina of Houston was second following the preliminaries with a score 312.80. On the one-meter, the divers complete six dives in the preliminaries and those scores are erased and six more dives are performed in the finals.
"I am very pleased with Lauryn's performance in the preliminaries," Tennessee diving coach Dave Parrington said. "Coming into your first NCAA meet can be a nerve-racking experience for anyone, but I am pleased that she made the finals and earned All-America status. That is a great achievement for her and I am really pleased with her performance."
McCalley was not the only Lady Vol competing on Thursday as Shannahan took to the pool in the 200y individual medley. The San Diego, Calif., native clocked a time of 2:02.52 to finish 34th in a field of 63 swimmers. That time of 2:02.52 was Shannahan's season and collegiate-best mark in the 200y IM.
McCalley will continue action with the one-meter finals on Thursday evening at approximately 9:00 p.m. ET. She will be in action again on Friday with the three-meter springboard competition. Shannahan will have a break until Saturday when she competes in both the 200y breaststroke and 200y butterfly.
