Hokie ClubSEATTLE, Wash. – Junior Logan Shinholser and sophomore Ryan Hawkins of the Virginia Tech diving squad lead the H2Okies on the final day of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships. Shinholser placed sixth and Hawkins tabbed seventh place to be named All-Americans Saturday night at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center.
“What a great weekend for our men swimmers and divers,” commented head coach Ned Skinner. “Every man scored for the team and Logan Shinholser has emerged as an elite diver in the country.”
Shinholser came into today being named an All-American in the 1- and 3-meter events and claimed the final honors tonight. He gathered a total of 401.25 to place sixth. Hawkins competed in the finals for the first time this weekend and scored a 377.25 to finished seventh to earn the All-America honors for the first time in his career. Both divers brought in a total of 25 points for Tech.
"I am so proud of Logan Shinholser,” commented head diving coach Ron Piemonte, “He had a career changing NCAAs and one of only three diver in the country to make finals in all three events, which is anabsolutely incredible accomplishment. Ryan Hawkins stepped up and delivered a stellar platform performance, earning him All-America honors for the first time. I couldn’t be happier with our representation at the year’s NCAA Championships and how well we competed at this level."
Zach McGinnis and Gregory Mahon both qualified for the finals for Tech today. McGinnis started the day off for the H2Okies setting a school record in the preliminaries as he came in 16th in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:42.57. The junior finished 14th overall to add three more points to the H2Okie total and receive the Honorable Mention All-America honors.
Mahon scored for Tech in the finals to be named the Honorable Mention All-American in the 200 butterfly. The junior touched the wall at the 1:45.50 mark, after he set a career-best 1:44.42 in the prelims.
As a team, the H2Okies brought in a score of 55 points to finished 18th, which is the best in program history at the NCAAs. Cal Berkeley took the gold with a total of 535.5 points, as Texas took home the silver with 491. Stanford took third with 426.5 and Arizona placed fourth with 396 points. Michigan rounded out the top five with 271 points.
“We have concluded our best season in program history and look forward to the future as all four of these men return next season,” added Skinner.