March 12, 2010
ATLANTA, Ga. - Senior Kelly Marx earned his way to the 2010 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships Friday at the NCAA Zone B Championships in Atlanta at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.
There are five Zone meets taking place this weekend across the country and these meets give divers a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships. Zone B will qualify eight women and seven men for the national meet. The women's NCAA Championships will be March 18-20 in West Lafayette, Ind., and the men will compete in Columbus, Ohio, March 25-27.
Marx qualified for the NCAA meet after he finished third on the three-meter springboard with a score of 783.00. Duke's Nick McCrory won the event with 843.55 points and Miami's Reuben Ross was third with 820.15 points.
"Kelly started off a little tentative, but really stepped it up in the second rotation," head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "We are in a very tough zone on the men's side so I'm really happy to have one through after the first day."
Competing in his first Zone competition was freshman Thad Ellis. The Atlanta product finished 12th overall with a score of 632.60.
"Thad had some great dives, but then had some freshman moments," Shaffer said. "Today was a good experience for him and he's better prepared for tomorrow."
Also competing today on the one-meter were three sophomores in Anna Aguero, Vennie Dantin and Mary Catherine Cochran. Aguero took sixth with a score of 552.65, while Dantin was seventh with 546.50 points. Cochran competed in the preliminary round, finished 24th (216.85).
"Anna was very consistent and Vennie was there the whole way, but stumbled a little at the end," Shaffer said. "They both have their work cut out for them, but have strong events left on the weekend."
Competition continues Saturday with the women's three-meter springboard and men's one-meter springboard. Live results can be found at www.divemeets.com.