March 13, 2003
ATLANTA – With berths to the upcoming NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on the line, a trio of Georgia Tech divers will compete this weekend at the 2003 NCAA Zone B Diving Championships at Auburn University’s James E. Martin Aquatic Center. Competition opens Friday and concludes Sunday.
The meet begins with the men’s one-meter at 10 a.m. Friday, followed by the women’s three-meter at 2:30 p.m. Saturday’s action opens with the women’s one-meter at 10 a.m., followed by the men’s three meter at 2:30 p.m. Both platform events are slated for Sunday. Live results will be available at www.auburntigers.com.
On the men’s side, junior Paul McCarty will compete on both the one- and three-meter boards, while freshman Matt Anderson goes in the one-meter event. Rookie Laurissa Prystaj is the lone women’s competitor for the Jackets and she will dive on both the one- and three-meter boards.
McCarty owns top scores on both boards for the men. His top marks of 325.45 on the one-meter board and 349.80 in the three-meter (six dives) event both came against Duke. He tallied 480.15 points in the three-meter, 11-dive format at the recent ACC Championships. Anderson’s top one-meter score of 301.35 also came against the Blue Devils.
Prystaj enters the Zones with school records on both boards. Her top one-meter mark (289.35) came against Emory, while she scored 293.20 on the three-meter (six dives) event versus North Florida. She set a school record in the three-meter, 11-dive format (418.75) at the ACC Championships.
Thirteen men’s divers will advance to the NCAA Championships from Zone B, while 12 women will earn the trip. These allocated spots are based on the results from the 2002 NCAA Championships. Zone B was the strongest region last year and received the most spots for this season’s championships.
The women’s national championships are scheduled for March 20-22 in Auburn, Ala., while the men’s meet is March 27-29 in Austin, Texas.
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