Jan. 6, 2006
Athens, Ga. - Tiger divers Corey Lynn Gerlach and Steven Segerlin posted runner-up finishes during the first of three days of competition at the Georgia Diving Invitational and Shootout held in the Gabrielsen Natatorium. Both qualified to compete at the 5:30 p.m. CT shootout portion of the competition.
Gerlach, an Upper Arlington, Ohio, native, turned in her third straight Zone B qualifier with a season high score of 276.20. This is Gerlach's best finish on 1-meter since the November 11 competition at the University of Virginia where she placed in the same position. Gerlach was in 10th after the morning preliminary round with a total of 233.30, but showed much improvement in the final round.
At the 3-meter level, Webster, N.Y., native Steven Segerlin turned in his sixth consecutive Zone B qualifier with a score of 357.75 to grab second. This was a one place improvement from his last showing at the Bulldog Invite a month ago. After the morning session, Segerlin stood fourth (328.50) and had an improved final to move two spots.
"No one was very consistent in the preliminary's this morning," head Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "Corey and Steve picked it up quite a bit in the finals and I am overall pretty pleased with today's performances. We just need to focus on competing and doing the best job that we can. I am happy that we were able to make corrections in competitive situations and even though scores do not reflect these corrections, it is a good sign that we are moving in the right direction. At this point in the year, I am looking for our divers to step up and compete and be able to make those corrections as the competition occurs. I feel that we were successful in doing this."
The pair, Gerlach and Segerlin, will compete at the same levels at 5:30 p.m. CT in the shootout portion of the competition where the top six finalists compete one dive per round and one person is eliminated each round until the winner is left.
Gerlach's teammate Lynnsey Segraves (Logansport, Ind.) had a slight improved final performance with a score of 237.95, compared to her 236.00 in the preliminary. However, Segraves dropped two places and ended up 11th. On the men's side, Scott Morgan (Nashville, Tenn.) ended up 17th with a 3-meter score of 230.35.
Women's 1-meter Final
1. Anatasia Pozdniakova, Houston - 281.65
2. Corey Lynn Gerlach, Auburn - 276.20
3. Crystal Rasmussen, Alabama - 271.35
Men's 3-meter Final
1. Chris Colwill, Georgia - 417.45
2. Steven Segerlin, Auburn - 357.75
3. Steven LoBue, Purdue - 335.70
Live scoring of the meet will be available on the Georgia athletic web site at www.georgiadogs.com. Complete results will be available at the conclusion of the final's session each afternoon.