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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The 2011 Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships kicked off this afternoon with the first of three days of competition. Virginia Tech did have any swimmers qualify for the meet, but had a school-record three divers land spots at the NCAA Zone A Diving Championships on March 11-13.
The trio started off the weekend by competing in the 1-meter springboard event. While Daniel Martin spent the first half of the round in position to make the finals, his final three dives were less strong, dropping him down to 28th place with a score of 284.75. Freshman Ryan Hawkins, who won the event at Zones, finished one spot behind him with a score of 275.45. After a slow start, Logan Shinholser, making his second NCAA appearance in as many years, scored over 60 points on his fourth and fifth dives to jump him up in the standings, but he was unable to overcome his score of 37.50 on his second dive, placing 23rd with a total score of 311.75 The finish tops his 33rd-place finish from last season by 35 points and a full 10 spots. However, no H2Okies were able to advance to the finals.
David Boudia of Purdue, who holds both the pool and NCAA Championship records and won the event last year, earned the title, scoring a 461.00 in the finals. Grant Nel of Texas A&M finished second with a score of 425.85 and Texas' Drew Livingston finished third (413.20).
After the first round of competition, the top three teams are separated by just five points. Texas sits atop the leaderboards with a score of 139, followed by Stanford (136 pts) and California (134 pts). Virginia leads all ACC teams, sitting in sixth with 74 points.
The trio will return to action tomorrow afternoon to compete in the 3-meter springboard event. The preliminary round will begin at 3 p.m.
For updates on Virginia Tech swimming & diving, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_SwimDive).
