Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va.- The Virginia Tech divers will take to the pool in Knoxville, Tenn., at the 2009 NCAA Diving Zone B Qualifier on March 13-15. Six divers on the H2Okie squad will be participating in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform events. Tech junior Mikey McDonald, sophomore Daniel Martin and freshman Trevor Michalak will compete for the men, while sophomore Sarah Milton and freshmen Cara Murnan and Natalie West will dive for the women.
The H2Okie divers continued to display impressive showings this season, highlighted by their showing at the ACC Championships. Six of its eight divers scored at the championships and will look to continue to impress at the NCAA qualifier.
The men are led by McDonald, who last season became the first diver to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the H2Okies, had a stellar performance at the 2009 ACC Championships. The junior posted a third place finish in the platform with a score of 357.40 and rewrote a new record in the 1-meter event for the H2Okies, with a score of 397.90 for a third-place finish. McDonald also scored a fourth-place finish in the 3-meter dive, posting a score of 407.15 in preliminary action and followed with a 403.90 score in the finals.
Meanwhile, Martin, a native of Fairfax, Va., qualified for the diving finals in the platform event at the conference championships after a preliminary score of 276.75. Martin finished the event in eighth place. Michalak, a native of Annandale, Va., will be competing at his first NCAA qualifying for Tech after participating at the ACC Championships in College Park, Md.
The women divers are headed by Milton and Murnan, who had a stellar showing this season. Milton, a native of Plano, Texas, and Murnan, who hails from Leesburg, Va., combined for 19 points in the platform event at the conference finals. Murnan led the way with a 247.65 showing for a fifth place finish and 14 points, while Milton scored 202.35 and tallied five additional points. West rounds out the group of divers and will be competing for the first time at the qualifying meet.
At the meet over 50 divers participate on each side with the top-12 women and top-10 men advancing to the NCAA Championships. All results will be posted on www.hokiesports.com at the conclusion of the days events.