Hokie ClubAUSTIN, Texas -- Senior Ryan Hawkins took home 10th place in the 1-meter diving event on Thursday afternoon, as the Virginia Tech men’s swimming and diving teams wrapped up the first day of competition at the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Texas.
The Charlotte, N.C. native, who took 14th in the event last season, tallied 349.15 points in the preliminaries, taking 12th place, before racking up 363.35 in the finals to move up to 10th place and secure Honorable Mention All-American honors.
Hawkins had previously earned Honorable Mention status in the 1-meter and All-American status in both the 3-meter and platform.
Junior Kyle Butts scored 315.95 in the prelims to take 21st in the event, while freshman T.J. Shinholser finished 32nd with a score of 276.85.
“I’m very pleased with the first day of competition and Ryan’s 10th-place finish, his highest-ever 1-meter finish at NCAAs,” Diving Coach Ron Piemonte said. “Kyle and TJ also did a lot of really good dives today and I’m confident that those will help them heading into the 3-meter and platform events.”
Earlier in the day, the H2Okies competed in the swimming preliminaries. Freshman Jan Switkowski made his NCAA Championships debut in the 500 freestyle, taking 41st with a time of 4:20.99.
Freshman Brandon Fiala also swam his first career race at the championships, clocking a 1:45.93 in the 200 IM to take home 37th place.
The H2Okies’ 200 freestyle relay team opened the meet with a 24th-place finish, as juniors C.J. Fiala and Morgan Latimer, senior Emmett Dignan and sophomore Lucas Bureau clocked a 1:19.91. Brandon Fiala, Latimer and juniors Collin Higgins and Owen Burns wrapped up the day with a 3:10.83 to take 19th in the 400 medley relay.
The H2Okies will be back in action on Friday, as the relay squads will return to the pool for the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relay preliminaries. The 400M, 100 fly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke are also all set go off. The 3-meter diving event will also take place tomorrow afternoon.
Prelims will begin at 12 p.m. EST tomorrow, while finals are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m.
Links to championship central and live results can be found above. Live streaming will also be available throughout the day, including on ESPN3 for the evening’s finals.