Sarah Bacon made the finals in another event at the U.S. Olympic trials for diving, finishing fifth in Tuesday's semifinals of the women's individual 3-meter competition. But the former Gophers diver will have to make up some ground to earn a place in that event at next month's Tokyo Olympics.
Bacon, a four-time NCAA champion for the Gophers, has a total of 568 points after Tuesday's preliminaries and semifinals in Indianapolis. Krysta Palmer leads the field with 655.15 points after a superb semifinal performance. Hailey Hernandez is second with 593.90, and Alison Gibson is third with 591.45.
The two divers with the highest cumulative scores will be named to the Olympic team. Bacon trails the second-place diver, Hernandez, by nearly 26 points.
The finals are Saturday.
Bacon also will compete in Thursday's finals of the women's 3-meter synchronized event with Kassidy Cook. Bacon and Cook trail the first-place team of Gibson and Palmer by 21.45 points going into the finals. The winner will earn the lone U.S. Olympic berth in the event.
Tuesday, Bacon finished fifth in the preliminary round with a score of 272.15. In the semifinals, she moved up to third place after the second of her five dives but dropped back to fourth in the next round.
Kristen Hayden, who competed for the Gophers in 2018 and 2019, slipped past Bacon in the final round. Her 568.95 points put her in fourth place by .95 of a point.
The top 12 divers moved on to the finals.
The Star Tribune did not travel for this event. This article was written using the television broadcast and video interviews after the game.
