Freece Earns 17th Place in NCAA Zone A 3-Meter Finals

Liberty sophomore Maddie Freece finished 17th on three-meter springboard at the NCAA Division I Women’s Diving Zone A Championships, Tuesday at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis, Md.

Freece made her third career NCAA Zone finals appearance, scoring in the top 18 in prelims last year and again this year.

Liberty’s Top Performer

• So. Maddie Freece – Three-meter diving (12) – 526.45 (17th place)

Notable

• During this week’s three-day meet, the top 18 from prelims each day qualify for evening finals. The top five combined scored from prelims and finals in one-meter diving qualify for the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.

• Freece was the one of 18 qualifiers into the finals, with a prelim score of 259.45. Last year, it took 232.80 to qualify for the final on three-meter at Zone A.

• The sophomore scored 267 points in the afternoon final, moving into 17th place overall with a combined 12-dive score of 526.45 points.

• Freece was the only CCSA women’s diver this season to make a Zone final.  FGCU sent three divers to Zone B, but they failed to qualify for finals.

• Abigail Knapton from Rutgers won today’s three-meter title with 648.90 points, with Elizabeth Kaye of Virginia (635.40) taking second place.

• Today’s event featured 60 divers, after last year’s three-meter Zone A field consisted of just 26 divers. The divers represent schools from Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Maine, Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia.

Historically Speaking

• Freece has earned finals appearances in three out of her four events lifetime at Zone Championships. Last year, she finished ninth on three-meter and 13th on three-meter. She has the most Zone finals appearances in program history.

• This is the fourth straight NCAA postseason appearance for Liberty’s divers. Freece was attempting to become the first Liberty diver to compete in the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships.

• Navy’s Lejeune Hall, the host for this week’s NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, hosted Zones in 2019, the year that Liberty made its first-ever NCAA postseason appearance. The 2020 Zone Championships were held in Morgantown, W.Va., while last year saw Maddie Freece and Lauren Chennault compete in Greensboro, N.C.