University of Tennessee Athletics
LADY VOL DIVER LAURYN MCCALLEY EARNS SECOND ALL-AMERICA HONOR
March 22, 2002 | Women's Swimming & Diving
March 22, 2002
AUSTIN, Texas
University of Tennessee freshman diver Lauryn McCalley added to her collection of awards on Friday as she recorded a sixth-place finish on the three-meter springboard at the 2002 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. McCalley earned the second All-America honor of her career, after picking up the first on Thursday, at the Jamail Family Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
The Moultrie, Ga., native's sixth-place score of 532.20 in the finals was the best mark on the three-meter in her young collegiate career. That score also moves the freshman into second on Tennessee's all-time three-meter list to rank only behind former Lady Vol Tracy Bonner's tally of 580.20-which was set at the same pool in Texas at the 1995 NCAA meet. Houston junior Yulia Pakhalina, a former Olympian and World Champion, successfully defended her title and won the event with an NCAA-record score of 625.05.
"I am very proud of Lauryn's effort today and hopefully this is just a start to an outstanding collegiate career," Tennessee diving coach Dave Parrington said. "This is one of the best championship finals that I have ever seen and the field was extremely tough including four Olympians. I couldn't be more pleased with Lauryn's performance. She dove extremely steadily throughout the night, but there is room for improvement and that is exciting for the future."
With her sixth-place performance in the three-meter and a seventh-place finish on the one-meter on Thursday, McCalley joins some elite diving company. The rookie is only the second Tennessee freshman to ever make two NCAA finals, joining former NCAA Champion Kathy Pesek. She is also one of five UT divers to score on both the one- and three-meter springboards at the same NCAA Championships. Current Lady Vol Jaime Sanger (2001), as well as former UT divers Pesek (1996, 1998, 1999), Bonner (1993, 1994, 1995) and Jane Anthony (1985, 1987), also accomplished the feat.
McCalley entered the evening finals in fifth position after posting a score of 509.55 in the preliminary round of six optional and five required dives. The scores for the required dives are held over into the second round, so McCalley entered the finals with a mark of 196.25 before performing her optional dives again in the evening session.
Senior swimmer Monica Shannahan looks to join McCallye on the All-American list on Saturday, the final day of the meet, as she enters both the 200y breaststroke and the 200y butterfly. Shannahan earned her ticket to the NCAA meet with an automatic qualifying time of 1:59.83 in the 200y butterfly and hopes to better that mark to earn the third All-America honor of her career.
The NCAA meet has been a record-setting one in the pool as NCAA and American marks have fallen in a number of races, including Cal sophomore Natalie Coughlin setting an American record in the 100y backstroke with a time of 49.97. That mark was two seconds better than her nearest competitor and gives Coughlin the distinction of becoming the first woman in history to swim the 100y back under 50 seconds. Coughlin also set an American record in the 100y butterfly with a time of 50.01 to narrowly miss breaking the 50-second mark in that event as well. Another American record fell in the 200y medley relay as the top three teams were under the old U.S. mark with Stanford taking the crown in 1:37.79.
Team Standings
1) AUBURN 337 20) NOTRE DAME 36 2) GEORGIA 270 21) PENN STATE 34 3) STANFORD 215 22) TENNEESSEE 25 4) ARIZONA 207 23) LSU 22 5) TEXAS 202.5 24) RICE 17 6) SOUTHERN CAL 194.5 25) CINCINNATI 15 7) CALIFORNIA 178 26) MICHIGAN 14.5 8) FLORIDA 154 27) FLORIDA STATE 12 8) SMU 124 28) PURDUE 1110) ARIZONA STATE 101 26) VILLANOVA 1111) INDIANA 92 27) SOUTH CAROLINA 912) VIRGINIA 86 28) WESTERN KENTUCKY 6.513) PACIFIC 72 29) MICHIGAN STATE 614) NORTH CAROLINA 69 30) CLEMSON 415) MIAMI (FLORIDA) 61 31) RUTGERS 416) WISCONSIN 57 32) MINNESOTA 217) ALABAMA 40 36) TEXAS A&M 118) UCLA 38 36) OREGON STATE 119) HOUSTON 37
