Jan. 3, 2011
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Members of the Auburn diving team traveled to Knoxville, Tenn., for the three-day Tennessee Diving Invitational and opened competition Monday with the men's one-meter springboard and the women's three-meter springboard.
"This is a very big meet full of really good divers and I'm proud of how some of our divers stepped up today and competed," head coach Jeff Shaffer said. "Overall, I think today was a good day with the team coming off a break."
The Auburn women had a successful day as juniors Vennie Dantin and Anna Aguero finished in the top eight on the three-meter. The pair opened the morning preliminary session strong as they finished 1-2 with Aguero qualifying first with a season-best score of 319.10 and Dantin in second (318.55). Dantin went on to take fifth (305.35) and Aguero was seventh (297.50).
"Anna (Aguero) and Vennie (Dantin) had a strong showing in the prelims and I'm really happy with their overall consistency today," Shaffer said.
A trio of men represented the Tigers on the one-meter. Redshirt senior Dan Mazzaferro was sixth overall with 326.65 points and freshman John Santeiu IV was in a close seventh with a career-best score of 325.90. Junior Adam Godzinski competed in the preliminaries and finished 19th (272.90).
"I'm very proud of John's (Santeiu) efforts today," Shaffer said. "He is coming along nicely for a freshman and really stepped up in the finals."
Competition continues Tuesday at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee with the women competing on the one-meter, while the men face off on the three-meter.