Julie Farrell-Ovenhouse and Karen LaFace earned U.S. Olympic 3-meter springboard diving berths Thursday night at the Olympic Trails.
Farrell-Ovenhouse, of Howell, Mich., easily won the event at the Indiana University Natatorium, earning 1084.59 points. LaFace, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., scored 1007.94 points.Wendy Lucero-Schayes, a 1988 Olympian, failed to repeat, taking third with 992.87 points.
"I thought it would be real tight between the top three," said Dick Kimball, Farrell-Ovenhouse's coach who has previously coached 16 Olympians. "She's been diving that way in practice. She dived pretty much the way she did in practice."
Farrell-Ovenhouse scored consistent 8.0s on four of her first five dives and posted some 9.0s on her initial optional dives, which she considers her strength.
"Diving is a sport that really depends on who's hot that day," said Farrell-Ovenhouse, who was hot for two straight days. She came into Thursday's finals with a 53-point lead.
In men's 3-meter springboard preliminaries, Mark Lenzi took a narrow lead over 1988 Olympian Mark Bradshaw. Lenzi, competing for Kimball Divers, scored 687.57 points to 678.63 for Bradshaw, diving out of Ohio State University.
Kent Ferguson, who finished third in the springboard at the 1984 and '88 U.S. Trials, stood third with 662.10. The finals are set for Friday night.