University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Tennessee Diving Invitational
Vols Open Home Diving Invite
January 03, 2017 | Swimming & Diving
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Liam Stone, Nick Rusek and Rachel Rubadue scored top-10 finishes Tuesday to start the Tennessee Diving Invitational at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.
In the 33 diver field in the men's 1-meter competition, junior Liam Stone took fourth with a score of 338.50 and sophomore Nick Rusek was eighth with 310.05, the third time this season he has scored above 300.
Senior Michael Howell ended the day with in 23rd place after the prelims with 259.15 points.
LSU's Juan Hernandez won with a score of 377.15.
Between illness and injury to other members of the squad, sophomore Rachel Rubadue was the only Vol diving in the women's 3-meter springboard contest. She was fourth after preliminaries and ultimately finished ninth with a score of 277.00.
Julia Vincent of South Carolina won with 365.90.
Competition resumes Wednesday with the women's 1-meter and 3-meter springboard contests beginning at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Admission is free.
Comments from Tennessee diving coach Dave Parrington: "It was a solid first day. I was especially pleased with Nick Rusek. They weren't his best scores, but when you get a bunch of SEC and high-level coaches together, the judging gets tighter. He made some mistakes but made good corrections in the finals. His consistency is coming around. Liam finished fourth in an incredibly high field. LSU's freshman is an exceptional diver. Liam's still overcoming jet lag since returning from New Zealand.
"For Rachel, it was the same sort of thing as Liam. No major mistakes but nothing great. She was a little off the mark in the finals against a quality field. The format is geared toward the zone championships and good preparation for down the road."
