Dec. 20, 2011
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Auburn senior divers Anna Aguero and Vennie Dantin advanced to the semifinals in the 3-meter springboard event at the 2012 USA Diving Winter National Championships, which continued Tuesday at the University of Tennessee.
"Both Anna and Vennie were solid," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "In the men's 1-meter, John (Santeiu) was solid, too; he just had to be a little sharper on the finish of some dives. I'm happy where we are right now. Really pleased with the quality of competition and quality training we're getting in."
Dantin, who already owns a pair of top-10 finishes in earlier competition at this event, qualified eighth in the 3-meter quarterfinals Tuesday afternoon. She posted an exceptional score of 300.95 on just five dives to finish in the middle of the pack among the 18 qualifiers.
Aguero finished right on the cut line in the 18th position with a score of 272.00 to join her teammate in Wednesday's semifinals.
In the men's 1-meter semifinals, John Santeiu finished 24th with a score of 306.10.
Dantin and Aguero will compete in the women's 3-meter semifinal beginning at 10 a.m. Wednesday; the top 12 scorers will then advance to the finals which get underway later Wednesday evening. Also in competition will be Santeiu and freshman Michael Beran as the men's platform quarterfinals will begin at 2 p.m. Live scoring and live video are available through DiveMeets.com.