University of Tennessee Athletics
Pair of Vols Advance to 3-meter Quarterfinals
December 16, 2011 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Dec. 16, 2011
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee diving program will have two representatives compete in the 3-meter quarterfinals of the USA Diving Winter National Championships, as Ryan Helms and Michael Wright advanced after finishing in the top 11 of the event prelims Friday at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
A day after qualifying for the 1-meter quarterfinals, Helms now moves on to the round of 36 on the 3-meter board after placing second with a season-best score of 403.80. Wright, who exhausted his eligibility last season, tallied a six-round score of 355.00 to notch sixth. He will also join Helms in the 1-meter quarterfinals, as he prequalified for the event.
"With Ryan, I am very, very pleased with his performance today, following what he did yesterday," Tennessee head diving coach Dave Parrington said. "He has had two really good competitions in a row in a very tough environment, as these four-plus hour competitions are not easy. It is a real credit to his training and the way he has worked on his physical fitness and conditioning, which carried him through the contest."
"Mike hasn't had a lot of opportunities to compete since finishing his eligibility last year, but he really dove well. He dove better today than the last time he competed as an exhibition diver at our invitational, so I think that will give him some confidence."
The top 11 divers in Friday's competition will join a prequalified group of 25 divers on Sunday with the goal being to finish in the top 18 and advance to the semifinals.
Junior Brent Sterling nearly missed joining the duo in the quarterfinals, as he came up just 5.20 points shy of 11th place, finishing with a score of 328.95 to claim 12th. Also in action was classmate Jordan Mauney, who grabbed 18th after accumulating a score of 301.95.
"Brent was steady, kind of how he was yesterday, but he needed one big dive today to put him over the hump," Parrington said. "I was happy with the way he competed but it's a little disappointing, especially finishing 12th, but I think it will benefit him down the road."
"I was really pleased with Jordan's performance today. He was 18th and I knew it was going to be a tough road for him to qualify. The judging was very tight and it may not have been his highest score but I am pleased with what he showed."
The 12 best scores in each event semifinal will advance to the finals and qualify for the Olympic Trials in Seattle in June.
The Vols divers return to action Sunday, as the 3-meter quarterfinals are slated to begin at approximately 2 p.m. ET.
Results for each event can be found at www.DiveMeets.com
