University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Divers Set for Qualifier
March 09, 2011 | Men's Swimming & Diving
March 9, 2011
The Tennessee men's diving team travels to Athens, Ga., with sights set on qualifying for the NCAA meet at the 2011 Zone B Diving Championships.
The event is the lone opportunity for divers to qualify for the NCAA championships, hosted by Minnesota later this month. The top nine divers from Zone B will advance.
"You don't like to be over-confident heading into this meet," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "When you talk about pressure in our sport, this is it. The Zone meet is our only shot to qualify for the NCAAs. This is all we've got."
Two Vol divers have previously qualified for the NCAAs. Junior Ryan Helms qualified in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
"Ryan has had a good season," Parrington said. "He has had success here before so he knows how you have to dive. If you're a good diver you can get it done."
Knoxville-native Brent Sterling qualified in his lone attempt as a freshman. The sophomore says that not having expectations was a big part of his prior success.
"I did not know what to expect last time, which really worked out because I just got up there and did my dives and qualified," Sterling said. "I wasn't nervous at all and this time I know I can do it."
Senior and SEC 1-meter champion Michael Wright competed at the Zone meet his junior season but did not qualify for the NCAAs.
Sophomore Jordan Mauney traveled to the meet last season but did not compete due to injury.
"We've got to go at this with the attitude that we have a job to do and that's get ready for the NCAAs," Parrington said.
Competition begins Thursday at 11 a.m. with the men's 1-meter springboard preliminaries. Live results are available at DiveMeets.com.
Players Mentioned
