March 12, 2005
ATLANTA – Freshman Evan Stowers and sophomore Tony Burkhardt made the finals of the men’s three-meter springboard to lead Georgia Tech at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships on Saturday night in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
“I was especially happy with the way Evan dove today,” said diving coach John Ames. “He was the highest placing freshman at the meet and that’s pretty special. He had one dive that he normally hits that he wasn’t able to convert, and that kept him from having a chance of making NCAAs. But I was happy with the men’s performances today on the three-meter springboard.”
Stowers, a native of Independence, Ky., finished with an overall score of 513.40 on the three-meter board to finish in 13th place for the Yellow Jackets. Burkhardt, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., finished 17th on the three-meter board with a final tally of 490.20.
Junior Laurissa Prystaj tallied a 31st-place finish for the Jackets on the women’s one-meter board with a score of 219.26. Freshman Stephanie England finished the one-meter diving competition with a score of 208.75, finishing in 34th place.
Miami’s Jenna Dreyer solidified a spot at the Women’s NCAA Championships with a first-place finish on the one-meter board, tallying 603.65 points. Florida State’s Courtney McClow and South Carolina’s Lauren King tallied second- and third-place finishes on the one-meter board with scores of 586.50 and 582.45, respectively, to qualify for NCAAs. LSU’s Jessica Wantz also qualified for the NCAA Championships with a fourth-place finish on the one-meter springboard with an overall score of 567.70.
Qualifying for the NCAA Championships on the men’s three-meter springboard was Georgia’s Chris Colwill (613.40), Tennessee’s Jevon Tarantino (607.95), Miami’s Miguel Velazquez (602.00) and Alabama’s Aaron Ashworth (569.30).
The NCAA Zone Diving Championship meet qualifies 13 men and 11 women for the NCAA Championships. The diving meet will continue on Sunday with the men’s and women’s platform.
-GT SWIMMING & DIVING-
