University of Tennessee Athletics
Wright Claims One-Meter Title
January 03, 2011 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 3, 2011
Drew Rutherford
UTsports.com
On day one of the Tennessee Diving Invitational, UT senior co-captain Michael Wright defended the Home Waters with a win on the one-meter springboard.
The Forest Park, Ill., native headed into the championship round riding high after earning the No. 1 seed during the preliminaries. Wright then improved upon that performance and won the event with a score of 391.95 points, more than 50 points ahead of the second place finisher.
"The highlight for us today was definitely Mike Wright," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "He did a fantastic job all day long. I was excited because even though he dove very well today I think we identified some areas for improvement that would really allow him to take it to another level."
Wright, who is competing in his first championship format in more than 18 months, said his success Monday will help come March.
"Because it's been so long since I competed in such a long meet like this, I really just tried to relax in between dives during preliminaries," Wright said. "The prelim round went well and I think the whole meet helped me mentally prepare for the SECs and Zones. So I was definitely pleased to make the finals and then be successful there, too."
Behind Wright was junior Ryan Helms in fifth place. After earning second place during the preliminaries, Helms slipped back to fifth in the finals with a 327.75-point score.
"I think Ryan is a little disappointed with his final because he missed a little on a dive that probably kept him out of the contention for the win, but I think he did some really good things today," Parrington said. "He did very well in the prelim round and I think he should do well tomorrow."
Sophomore Brent Sterling finished 14th with a 284.85-point score. Signal Mountain, Tenn., native Jordan Mauney placed 20th with 272.75 points.
"I am pleased with Brent and Jordan, as well," Parrington said. "They both had some solid dives. Brent came up just short of the final today and I think Jordan did well with a new dive list. We didn't have the best day, but I think we set ourselves up well for tomorrow."
Competition will resume Tuesday at noon with the men's three-meter springboard and the women's one-meter springboard. Live results as well as official results are available at www.DiveMeets.com.
Players Mentioned
