March 13, 2005
ATLANTA – Freshman Evan Stowers came within five points of becoming the first Georgia Tech diver to qualify for the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships on Sunday afternoon at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships in the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. Stowers finished 11th on the platform with a score of 424.65 to lead the Yellow Jackets.
“Both our freshman were solid on the platform today,” said diving coach John Ames. “I was proud on how they competed out there, especially for freshman.”
Stowers, a native of Independence, Ky., needed only to finish ninth on the platform to qualify for nationals. In his final dive, Stowers posted seven-and-a-half’s and eights, but could not overcome his deficit to LSU’s Niko Dalman who finished with an overall total of 429.10.
“To come that close to making nationals was great,” said Ames on Stowers’ performance. “I told him what he needed to do over his last four dives, and he went out there and did it. He really pulled off that last dive and it could have just as easily been nine’s. But this meet is tough, because most of the top divers are in this zone. He did almost as well as he could’ve possibly done.”
Freshman Stephanie England led the Yellow Jackets in the women’s platform diving event. The Titusville, Fla., native finished 11th on the 10-meter platform with a score of 353.05 in nine dives.
“Stephanie had a solid afternoon,” said Ames. “She missed one dive in the middle of her platform that cost her any chance at getting back up near the leaders.”
NCAA ZONE B DIVING QUALIFIERS
WOMEN1. Taryn Ignacio UK 1st place platform2. Lauren King USC 1st place 3-meter3. Jenna Dreyer UM 1st place 1-meter4. Jessica Thompson UK 3rd place 3-meter5. Courtney McClow FSU 2nd place 1-meter6. Lynnsey Seagraves AU 4th place 3-meter7. Jessica Wantz LSU 4th place 1-meter8. Heather Bounds UM 2nd place platform9. Molly Culberson NCS 5th place 3-meter10. Crystal Rasmussen UA 7th place 1-meter11. Tracy Richardson USC 6th place 3-meter
MEN
1. Steve Segerlin AU 1st place platform 2. Chris Colwill UGA 1st place 3-meter 3. Zachary Wilcox UF 3rd place 1-meter 4. Jevon Tarantino UT 2nd place 3-meter 5. Stewart Smith UA 4th place 1-meter 6. Miguel Velazquez UM 3rd place 3-meter 7. Andy Bradley USC 5th place 1-meter 8. Mathew Bricker AU 3rd place platform 9. Aaron Ashworth UA 4th place 3-meter 10. Derek Starks UM 6th place 1-meter 11. Todd Avery UGA 10th place 3-meter 12. Niko Dalman LSU 9th place platform 13. Dean Berman UNCW 9th place 1-meter
-GT SWIMMING & DIVING-
