LOS ANGELES – Junior Logan Shinholser qualified for the Olympic Trials in three of his four events to lead the H2Okie Aquatics squad to a third-place team finish at the AT&T National Diving Championships on Sunday at the UCLA Spieker Aquatic Center.
“I’m very proud of how hard many of the divers have worked this summer,” commented head diving coach Ron Piemonte. “With one more qualifying opportunity, I am thrilled that Virginia Tech will have so much representation at the Olympic Trials, which is such an extremely prestigious event and with this I am looking forward to a great 2011-2012 season.”
Shinholser recorded a fifth-place finish in the platform event scoring 378.60, while charting a 367.65 in the 3-meter event that gave him a ninth-place finish.
Paired with sophomore Ryan Hawkins in the synchronized events, the duo placed third in the synchronized platform event with a score of 367.20, which qualifies them for the Olympic Trials. The pair also tallied a score of 297.45 in the synchronized 3-meter for a 10th-place finish.
These scores helped Shinholser become the second-highest point scorer in the entire meet for the men. He was 5.5 points shy of first place.
In addition to Shinholser, Hawkins recorded a 14th-place finish in the platform and a 16th-place finish in the 1-meter, tallying scores of 325.65 and 287.75, respectively.
On the women’s side, incoming freshman Kelli Stockton also competed in the AT&T Nationals along with transfer Logan Kline. Stockton previously qualified for the Olympic Trials, as she placed 11th in the women’s platform with a score of 256.65 after finishing a solid fourth-place in the semifinals.
Kline finished third in both the synchronized 3-meter and platform events with scores of 250.80 and 219.90, respectively, earning her and her partner Olympic Trial spots in both events.
Also qualifying for the Trials is incoming freshman Kaylea Arnett, who prequalified in the women’s 3-meter event in a previous competition.
The Virginia Tech diving squad will participate in the USA Winter Nationals in December that will give it a chance to qualify more divers before competing in the Olympic Trials on June 19-24 in Seattle, Wash.