Canisius College men's and women's diving coach Meili Carpenter competed in the 3-meter springboard competition at the U.S. Olympic Diving Team Trials held June 17-24 at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash. Competing among 31 competitors in the field, Carpenter finished eighth overall in pursuit of her Olympic dream with a combined score of 852.00.
Placing sixth in both the preliminaries (286.50) and semifinals (289.50) on Tuesday, Carpenter entered Saturday's finals among the top-12 finishers with a combined score of 576.00. Finishing in either of the top-two overall spots would guarantee Carpenter a trip to the 2012 Olympics in London, representing the United States on the world's stage.
In Saturday's finals of the 3-meter springboard, Carpenter compiled a score of 276 on five dives. Her best performance of the afternoon came in the midst of her third dive, a reverse two-and-a-half somersault pike with the judge's awarding her a score of 67.50, the second best total in the round.
At the start of the Olympic trials on Tuesday in the preliminaries, Carpenter secured a five-dive total of 286.50 to take sixth among 31 competitors. Her third dive was her best of the preliminary round, registering a score of 67.50, third highest total of the round.
In the semifinals, Carpenter compiled her highest five-dive total with 289.50 points awarded by the judges. The scores she secured on her second (60.0 points) and fifth (63.00) dives registered in the top-10 among the 18 remaining competitors. At the end of the day on Tuesday, Carpenter sat in sixth place with a combined score of 576.00 points.
Finishing first overall in the 3-meter springboard competition was Stanford University's Cassidy Krug, who recorded a combined score of 1094.85 followed by Christina Loukas (1017.85), a 2009 graduate of Indiana University. Krug and Loukas will now represent the U.S. at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, which will begin at the end of July.
