Herndon Completes NCAA Zone Championships Debut on 3-Meter

Liberty freshman Mary Herndon placed 39th on three-meter springboard at the NCAA Division I Women's Diving Zone A Championships, Monday at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va.

Herndon is competing to earn a spot in the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championships, which will be held in Knoxville, Tenn., March 15-18. Sophomore Grace Gooding and junior Meagan Tuohy compete on one-meter tomorrow.

Liberty's Top Performer

• Fr. Mary Herndon – Three-meter diving (6) – 237.55 (39th place in prelims)

Notable

• During this week's three-day meet, the top 18 from prelims each day qualify for evening finals. The top six combined scores from prelims and finals in three-meter diving qualify for the 2023 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championships.

• This year, it took 272.75 points to qualify for the Zone A Diving final on one-meter springboard. Elizabeth Kaye from Virginia posted the top qualifying score today with 347.75.

• Today's event featured 66 divers, after last year's three-meter Zone A field consisted of just 79 divers. The divers represent schools from Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Delaware and District of Columbia.

Historically Speaking

• Herndon is the fifth Liberty freshman diver to compete at NCAA Zone Championships, joining Lauren Chennault (2019), Abigail Egolf-Jensen (2019), Olivia Robinson (2019) and Maddie Freece (2021).

• This is the fifth straight NCAA postseason appearance for Liberty's divers. The Lady Flames are attempting to send the first Liberty diver to compete in the NCAA Division I Women's Swimming & Diving Championships.

• The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park, the host for this week's NCAA Zone A Diving Championships, hosted Zones in 2020. That was Liberty's second-ever appearance at the Zone Championships.

Up Next

Liberty finishes up its time at NCAA Zone Championships tomorrow, with Meagan Tuohy and Grace Gooding competing on one-meter springboard. The preliminary round for one-meter diving begins at noon, with the top 18 scores advancing to finals.

Featured in photo: Mary Herndon