Tweet

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Ryan Hawkins and four other divers of the Virginia Tech diving program advance to the quarterfinals of the 2012 USA Diving Winter National Championships Thursday.

The sophomore diver, Hawkins, took home first place in the platform preliminaries to advance to the quarterfinals, which will take place Saturday.

“He did a very nice job and used a couple new dives and did extremely well,” commented head diving coach Ron Piemonte. “I couldn’t be happier for him. I think this is going to help and give him confidence in the rest of the meet and throughout the rest of the season.”

In addition to Hawkins, Kyle Butts and John Trope advanced in the 1-meter dive for the men, while Logan Kline advanced in the platform taking sixth place and Kaylea Arnett followed with a 10^th-place finish, also advancing.

“I couldn’t be happier with the entire team and having the USA Diving Committee changing the date of the meet because of the Olympic year and having it during finals week, I couldn’t be happier. It was a really good first day of competition,” added Piemonte.

Hawkins, Trope and Butts will be competing in the preliminaries of the 3-meter event Friday, while quarterfinals will begin Saturday at 10 a.m.

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