March 14, 2010
Shinholser takes platform title, joins McDonald as NCAA qualifier
Logan Shinholser and Mikey McDonald will compete at the NCAA's on March 25-27.

PISCATAWAY, N.J.Freshman diver Logan Shinholser earned the top finish in the men’s platform event on Sunday and earned a ticket to the men’s NCAA Championships, joining Mikey McDonald as two of the men’s four qualifiers from the Zone A Diving Championships.

Shinholser, Tech’s school record holder in the platform, posted a dominant performance, combining for 702.65 points to take first, nearly a 90-point increase from the second-place finisher. Daniel Martin was also solid for the H2Okies, placing fourth with a score of 562.10, marking his third top-10 finish of the weekend. McDonald finished 11th.

Freshman Sara Mokhtari, the women’s school record holder in the platform event, earned a top-three spot with a third-place finish and a score of 445.95. Sarah Milton took fourth with 436.80 points. Cara Murnan and Carissa Santora placed sixth and seventh, respectively, while Andrea Sawchuck and Julia Bradford earned respective 11th and 12th-place finishes.

McDonald clinched an NCAA qualifying spot on Friday, earning second-place in the three-meter event. He also took first in the one-meter on Saturday.

“All in all, we dove really well this weekend,” said head diving coach Ron Piemonte. “We started a little slow on day one, but we really showed our talent over the course of the weekend. As far as team scores, we dominated both men’s and women’s so I’m very pleased with that.”

The men topped all teams competing with 143 points, while the women also outscored all competition.

McDonald and Shinholser will compete in all three diving events at the men’s NCAA Championships, scheduled for March 25-27 in Columbus, Ohio, and will join H2Okie swimmer Charlie Higgins, who has also qualified in the backstroke events. Kelly deMarrais, Katarina Filova, Erika Hajnal and Lauren Ritter will compete in the women’s NCAA Championships on March 18-20 in West Lafayette, Ind.

For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_SwimDive).

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