Indiana University Athletics
Roberts Bests School Mark, Hoosiers Advance Four to Championship Finals
2/24/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 24, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - In the preliminaries of the men's three-meter springboard, the No. 11 men's diving team advanced four athletes to the finals at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center for the Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships on Feb. 24. Indiana sophomore Taylor Roberts scored over 400 points en route to garnering the top spot during the preliminary rounds.
"Our best case scenario for today was to have four guys in the championship finals and six guys score total," head Indiana diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber said. "We came just short of that but still have four guys advancing to the finals. At this point, they got the job done. We needed four guys in the finals, and they are there. Tonight, I am going to tell them to have fun and relax. We had some great dives. Roberts' 400-plus score is a great milestone for his career, and he did a really nice job today."
The diving portion of the day opened with the three-meter prelims. Roberts became the first Hoosier in school history to eclipse 400 points in six dives with his 407.13 first-place performance en route to establishing a new school record. Roberts' best dive of the prelims came on his fifth dive in which his reverse 2.5 somersaults with 1.5 twists from a pike position posted a 75.25.
"It feels good to earn over 400 points in the prelims," Roberts said. "I tried to stay calm and confident. I came in and did my job while still trying to pump up my teammates."
Senior Jesse Rappaport took third in the event with 354.90 points. Rappaport's 68.00 forward 2.5 somersaults with two twists from the pike position in the second round marked his best dive of the event.
Junior Brian Mariano placed fourth and advanced to the finals with a personal-best 349.25 points. Marino notched his best dive in the in second round when he nailed a forward 2.5 somersaults with a double twist from a pike position to add 66.30 points to his total.
Senior Ryan Fagan rounded out the Hoosier party advancing to the finals. Fagan tallied the sixth-best score of 336.80. His best dive came in the fifth round when he carded a 69.00 on a forward 2.5 somersaults with a twist from a pike position.
Sophomore David Legler finished in 20th position with 266.35 points thanks to his sixth dive that consisted of a forward 1.5 somersaults with three twists. Sophomore Justin Montrie finished just behind Leger in 21st position with 265.45 points. Montrie's forward 3.5 somersaults from a pike position earned him 65.45 points in the second round.
Next up, IU competes in finals of the Big Ten Championships with the 200-yard medley relay, 400-yard IM, 100-yard butterfly, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard breaststroke, 100-yard backstroke, three-meter diving and the 800-yard freestyle relay taking place at 7 p.m.
