Jan. 4, 2010
AUBURN, Ala. - Senior Kelly Marx and sophomore Vennie Dantin came away with top five finishes on day two of the Georgia Diving Invitational and Shootout Monday at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens.
"We came out and competed as a team much better than yesterday," said Jeff Shaffer, head diving coach. "Everyone made some finishing errors, which we contribute to the week off over Christmas. However, we plan on using this meet to focus on the things we do well and figure out what we need to buckle down on to be more consistent."
Marx opened the day with a third-place finish on the one-meter springboard with a score of 324.50. Freshman Thad Ellis also advanced to the finals, taking sixth overall with 313.15 points. Marx and Ellis reached the finals after finishing third and fourth in the prelims, respectively. Just missing the finals cut was sophomore Adam Godzinski, who finished 13th with a score of 272.05
On the three-meter springboard, Dantin concluded in fourth-place with 292.05 points. Classmate Anna Aguero finished the day with a seventh-place finish and a score of 280.75. Sophomore Mary Catherine Cochran also competed on the three-meter, taking 20th in the prelims with 230.40 points.
Marx, Ellis and Dantin each competed in the evening's shootout, a six-person competition where each diver will do a dive of his/her choice with the competitor with the lowest score from each round eliminated until two divers are left. Marx took third, while Ellis finished fourth on the one-meter. Dantin recorded third-place on the three-meter.
The Georgia Diving Invitational and Shootout concludes Tuesday with the women's and men's platform competitions.