University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Zone B Diving Championships
Three Vol Divers Advance to Three-Meter Finals
March 14, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
March 14, 2009
On day two of the Zone B Diving Championships at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center, three Vol divers advanced to the final round of the men's three-meter event.
Freshman-sensation Ryan Helms led UT's efforts Saturday with a fourth-place finish. The top five finishers receive and automatic bid to the NCAA championships. After failing to make the cut Friday on the one-meter, his finish Saturday will send him to his first NCAA championship meet.
"It's such a relief," Helms said. "It was disappointing not making it yesterday and that put a lot of pressure on me today. I just had to keep my head up. It's a huge sigh of relief."
Fresh off what UT diving coach Dave Parrington called his best career performance Friday, Knoxville-native Brent Sterling continued his success Saturday finishing ninth (681.20) on the three-meter. UT's only seasoned veteran junior Michael Muscari was the third Vol to make the final field and placed tenth (680.65).
"Helms came back after a tough day yesterday to have a great performance and I was very pleased with how he dove today," Parrington said. "Brent did great and is still in the mix to make the NCAA championships."
Junior Michael Wright placed 23rd (279.55) in the preliminary round of the event and did not qualify for the final round.
Live results can be seen during each event at divemeets.com and official results are posted following each event.
The final day of competition will feature platform diving and men's competition will begin at 1 p.m. All four divers from UT are potential platform competitors.
Players Mentioned
