COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M junior Madison Hudkins was solid from start to finish while earning her second straight trip to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships on Tuesday at the NCAA Zone D qualifier at the Student Recreation Center.
Diving in her home pool, Hudkins (Murrieta, Calif.) dueled Minnesota's Yu Zhou for nearly four hours but she couldn't overtake the defending NCAA Champion in the three-meter dive and placed second with a 12-dive score of 684.60. It was easily enough for Hudkins to gain entry to the 2016 NCAA meet as the top nine finishers in the competition earned spots.
It was vindication for Hudkins, who struggled with a knee injury at the SEC Championships two weeks ago and again in Monday's one-meter springboard competition. Hudkins had to rally just to reach the 18-diver final in the one-meter dive and ended up placing 11th.
"It was definitely one of my peak performances this year," Hudkins said. "I think Zones are the hardest meet of the year because it's one chance to qualify for NCAAs. It's a lot of pressure, but I didn't feel like I had anything to lose today. I had everything to gain. That mentality helped with my mental game because I'm coming off of SECs, which weren't great for me, and yesterday on the one-meter, which wasn't great. I had to change something up. I couldn't be as physically strong, so I wanted to make sure I was mentally strong."
Hudkins' addition to the Aggies' NCAA roster brings the number of invited competitors to 14. Earlier this week, 13 of her swimming teammates were invited to the national meet, which tied for the most in the nation. On Wednesday, freshman Alais Kalonji, the 2016 SEC runner-up in the platform dive, will attempt to become the Aggies' 15th invitee.
Women's 3m NCAA Qualifiers
The top nine finishers from the women's 3m competition earned berths to the NCAA Championships:
Place Score Diver (School)
1 718.10 Yu Zhou (Minnesota)
2 684.60 Madison Hudkins (Texas A&M)
3 677.30 Cassie Weil (LSU)
4 654.55 Lexi Tenenbaum (Minnesota)
5 652.45 Meghan Obrien (Texas)
6 651.60 Nicole Gillis (Arkansas)
7 647.60 Meghan Houston (Texas)
8 639.15 Elizabeth Cui (LSU)
9 629.90 Anna Filipcic (Nebraska)
Diving in her home pool, Hudkins (Murrieta, Calif.) dueled Minnesota's Yu Zhou for nearly four hours but she couldn't overtake the defending NCAA Champion in the three-meter dive and placed second with a 12-dive score of 684.60. It was easily enough for Hudkins to gain entry to the 2016 NCAA meet as the top nine finishers in the competition earned spots.
It was vindication for Hudkins, who struggled with a knee injury at the SEC Championships two weeks ago and again in Monday's one-meter springboard competition. Hudkins had to rally just to reach the 18-diver final in the one-meter dive and ended up placing 11th.
"It was definitely one of my peak performances this year," Hudkins said. "I think Zones are the hardest meet of the year because it's one chance to qualify for NCAAs. It's a lot of pressure, but I didn't feel like I had anything to lose today. I had everything to gain. That mentality helped with my mental game because I'm coming off of SECs, which weren't great for me, and yesterday on the one-meter, which wasn't great. I had to change something up. I couldn't be as physically strong, so I wanted to make sure I was mentally strong."
Hudkins' addition to the Aggies' NCAA roster brings the number of invited competitors to 14. Earlier this week, 13 of her swimming teammates were invited to the national meet, which tied for the most in the nation. On Wednesday, freshman Alais Kalonji, the 2016 SEC runner-up in the platform dive, will attempt to become the Aggies' 15th invitee.
Women's 3m NCAA Qualifiers
The top nine finishers from the women's 3m competition earned berths to the NCAA Championships:
Place Score Diver (School)
1 718.10 Yu Zhou (Minnesota)
2 684.60 Madison Hudkins (Texas A&M)
3 677.30 Cassie Weil (LSU)
4 654.55 Lexi Tenenbaum (Minnesota)
5 652.45 Meghan Obrien (Texas)
6 651.60 Nicole Gillis (Arkansas)
7 647.60 Meghan Houston (Texas)
8 639.15 Elizabeth Cui (LSU)
9 629.90 Anna Filipcic (Nebraska)