MINNEAPOLIS -- Texas senior All-American Maren Taylor won the 1-meter diving event convincingly and qualified for the NCAA championships on Monday at the NCAA Zone "D" Diving Meet. Taylor qualifies for the NCAA Championships for the fourth time in as many attempts and will return to Minnesota's University Aquatic Center to compete at the national meet March 20-22.
Taylor won the 48-diver preliminary round with 335.40 points and never relinquished her lead during the 18-diver final round. An eight-time All-American, Taylor won the finals with 682.05 points and outdistanced her nearest competitor, Margaret Keefer of Minnesota, by more than 20 points.
Keefer claimed the second NCAA championships bid available Monday in Zone D with her second-place total of 661.1 points. Missouri's Lauren Reedy qualified for the national meet with her third-place total of 634.45 points.
Texas' Emma Ivory-Ganja and Meghan Houston also reached Monday's finals after qualifying during the preliminary round. Ivory-Ganja placed seventh overall with 607.65 points while Houston took 11th place with 574.05 points. Sophomore Kristina Hoffmann placed 44th during the preliminary round with 205.55 points.
