University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Tennessee Diving Invitational
Helms Continues to Battle with Top SEC Divers
January 04, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 4, 2009
UT freshman Ryan Helms has gone head to head with some of the nation's best divers in his first year as a Vol. Nowhere has his competition been stronger than at the Tennessee Diving Invitational. Day two of the invite featured the Southeastern Conference's finest competitors battling in the three-meter event.
The preliminary round was led by Auburn's Kelly Marx with a score of 378.90 with Helms finishing second at 359.30. Saturday's one-meter champ Aaron Fleshner finished third at 344.40. Tennessee's Michael Wright made the finals in 11th place and junior Michael Muscari just missed the championship field finishing 13th. UT freshman Brent Sterling was 23rd and redshirt freshman Sean Letsinger was 26th.
"We are seeing some really quality diving," UT diving coach Dave Parrington said. "To see Ryan Helms, as a freshman, step up and compete with some seasoned veterans in the SEC, is really encouraging."
The championship round of the men's three-meter featured several SEC divers in a tight competition. As in the prelims, Marx, Helms and Fleshner were in a tight race and Auburn's Daniel Mazzaferro joined the trio in the fight for the top spot. Heading into the last round of diving, the top three, Helms, Fleshner and Mazzaferro, were separated by less than three points.
After the final round, Alabama's junior diver Aaron Fleshner beat out Helms by 6.75 points with a mark of 405.75. Helms posted his career best 399.00 and despite leading the field entering the final round, finished second to Fleshner for the second day in a row. Auburn's Mazzaferro and Marx finished third and fourth, respectively. Tennessee's Michael Wright finished 12th.
"Today went really well," Helms said. "There were a couple of things could have gone a little better, but overall it was a great meet for me."
Final results from Sunday's competition can be found on divemeets.com.
The final day of competition will begin Monday at 11:30 a.m. and will feature men's and women's platform diving.
Players Mentioned
