ATLANTA – One day after securing his spot on 1-meter at the NCAA Championships, all Conner Pruitt had to do Tuesday was finish top 12 on 3-meter to qualify for a second event. The senior made the cut easily, finishing fifth with a combined two-list score of 792.80.
Pruitt topped his season-best 3-meter score from the SEC Championships last month with 412.30 points on his first list at the Zone B Championships.
"It was a good day," Auburn head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "He was close to a personal best in her first list, so that was encouraging. We need to fine-tune some things next week prior to coming back up for NCAAs."
The Tigers had two divers earn a second list in both the men's 3-meter and the women's platform, but Pruitt was the only one to qualify for NCAAs. Hunter Kebler just missed for the men while freshman Abigail Farrar was one spot shy for the women.
Kebler set a new personal best on his first list with 346.60 points, finishing 11th in prelims. With the top 11 earning a spot, the sophomore was right there throughout the contest but had a couple divers pass him in the final round. He took 13th with a score of 685.90.
Farrar also set a personal best on platform, scoring 254.95 on her second list. She finished with a combined two-list score of 505.95 to place 11th in her first Zone meet.
"It was a little tougher this year than in years past," Shaffer said. "I thought Abi did a great job. She missed a back two-and-a-half on her first list but hit it in her second list and was just six points away. It's frustrating but also encouraging for the future of her development and what she'll be able to do for Auburn. It was a great learning experience for her.
"Any time you can come to a Zone meet where you've got coaches judging and trying to get their divers in over your divers and you can do a personal best, you're getting better."
Junior Gretchen Wensuc, a finalist on platform at the SEC Championships, also earned a second list Tuesday and finished 14th in finals with a score of 499.00.
Junior Ashlynn Sulivan and freshman Whit Andrus each placed 23rd in prelims of their respective events – women's platform and men's 3-meter.
The men will wrap up the meet Wednesday with platform, giving Andrus and Kelber one more shot at punching their ticket to NCAAs. Prelims begin at 11 a.m. CT.
