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Former UH diver misses qualifying for Olympics

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ASSOCIATED PRESS / DECEMBER 2015

Qiongjie (Huang) Drew, top, and Ariel Rittenhouse competed in the women’s 3-meter synchronized final at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in Indianapolis on Dec. 16, 2015. Drew was a NCAA diving champion at Hawaii.

Former University of Hawaii and NCAA champion diver QiongJie “Ajie” (Huang) Drew finished eighth in the 3-meter springboard event at Sunday’s U.S. Olympic Diving Trials in Indianapolis.

Drew, a 2013 UH Sports Circle of Honor inductee, was in fifth place after Tuesday’s semifinals, having risen from 10th in the preliminaries at the IU Natatorium. She scored 845.50 points, her best dive coming on her fifth and last, a forward 2 1/2 somersault with a twist pike where she had the second-best score of the final round. Drew, 34, was the oldest female competitor at the meet and recently came out of retirement.

Claiming the two Olympic team berths were Kassidy Cook (1,003.65) and Abby Johnston (949.30).

Drew, a 2005 NCAA champion, was an eight-time All-American and five-time conference champion, medaling in both 1-meter and 3-meter diving. She and former Olympian Ariel Rittenhouse finished second in the 3-meter synchronized diving at last December’s USA Diving Winter Nationals, which would have qualified them for the Olympic team had the U.S. qualified for that event in Rio de Janeiro.

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