Meili Carpenter Finishes Eighth At US Diving Trials

SEATTLE, WA- University at Buffalo school-record holder Meili Carpenter finished in eighth place in the 3m Springboard competition at the United States Olympic Diving Trials on Saturday.  Carpenter finished her outstanding week with a total score of 852.00.

Carpenter went into the final round with a score of 576.00 from the preliminary and semifinal rounds, which were held earlier in the week.  She executed her best dive of the finals in the third round when a reverse 2 1/2 somersault pike netted her 67.50 points.

"Meili dove consistently through out the competition and although her finals weren't as strong as her prelims and semifinals, she was still able to hold on to eighth place," said Buffalo diving coach Karla Helder.  "She executed the strategy that we talked about all along and she not only showed the type of warrior that she is, but also the years of experience that she has."

Stanford's Cassidy Krug won the competition, while Christina Loukas took second.