March 7, 2017
Alison Maillard found herself in a comfortable place on Tuesday while Pete Turnham and Scott Lazeroff found redemption.
Maillard, a freshman, added a second event to her NCAA schedule, finishing sixth in the women's 1-meter diving competition at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships on Tuesday, while later in the day Lazeroff and Turnham each rebounded from a disappointing Monday to both finish top six on the 3-meter.
"I loved how they responded," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "Yesterday for Pete and Scott and Maddie (Cox), it was not their best day. We talked about it and they came in focused and ready to compete. Another solid job for Alison and to have two guys qualify for NCAAs to help with the team championship is huge."
Maillard, who qualified for the 3-meter during Monday's competition, was fifth coming out of prelims with a 282.85. The freshman then added 282.15 during finals to finish with a total score of 565.00.
"One-meter is more of my happy place," Maillard said. "I'm pretty solid on 1-meter and I figured I could make top 12 (to qualify) but obviously I wanted to do better than that. Once I got through my fourth dive and then I did my fifth dive, especially in finals, and I hit it, I pretty much knew I was in. I didn't know how high I was and when I saw I was fourth it was just the cherry on top."
Turnham, a junior and an Auburn native, earned his first-ever trip to the NCAA meet by finishing fourth with a total score of 740.65. He had entered the finals in 12th after scoring a 341.60 in prelims.
"I have nothing to compare this to since this is my first time but I'm so excited that this was at my own pool," Turnham said. "Especially after yesterday. That's where you find out how strong you are, when you are at your bottom. How willing you are to climb back up to the top? Today I just thought of it as practice. I feel amazing right now."
"That is what Pete is capable of doing," Shaffer said. "It's so rewarding to see an athlete finally step up to where we know his ability is."
Lazeroff, a sophomore, earned his second straight trip to the NCAA Championships by placing sixth with a total score of 731.90. He had scored a 360.15 in prelims to enter the finals in sixth.
"I needed a comeback," Lazeroff said. "Yesterday I had too much in my head and I didn't do well. Today I just rebooted and told myself this is my home, my house. I've done thousands of dives here so just do what I always do and it showed and I'm really happy."
"Scott struggled a little bit," Shaffer said. "He didn't have his best SEC on springboard and he had an awful day yesterday but we changed his list a little bit, tried to take some of the pressure off and he responded like a champ."
Maddie Cox had advanced to 1-meter finals off the strength of a ninth-place score in prelims of 271.15. Once in finals she scored a 257.75 over six rounds to finish with a 528.90 total score, which placed her 14th.
"Maddie did a great job, she just faltered a little bit," Shaffer said. "When you're doing six dives at this level of competition there is no room for error. She just got beat by better athletes today."
The Zone B Championships conclude on Wednesday with the platform competitions. The women dive first, beginning at 10 a.m., while the men start at 2:15 p.m. Admission is free.
The women's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships begin on Wednesday, March 15, in Indianapolis, Ind. The men's championship is a week later, also in Indianapolis.
Tuesday's Auburn results
Men's 1-Meter
4. Pete Turnham ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 341.60/740.65
6. Scott Lazeroff ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 360.15/731.90
Women's 3-Meter
4. Alison Maillard ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 282.85/565.00
15. Maddie Cox ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 271.15/528.90
Wednesday, March 8
10-11:45am ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Women's platform prelims
Noon-12:45pm ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Women's platform finals
2:15-4pm ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Men's platform prelims
4:15-5:15pm ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Men's platform finals