University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
Tennessee Diving Invitational
Muscari Leads Vols in Platform Event
January 05, 2009 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Jan. 5, 2009
Vol junior diver Michael Muscari bounced back on day three of the Tennessee Diving Invitational. After just missing the championship field of the three-meter Sunday, Muscari led the Big Orange in the platform event.
Southeastern Conference divers continued their dominance as eight of the top ten were from SEC schools. Auburn teammates Kelly Marx and Daniel Mazzaferro dueled from the ten-meter platform with Marx (406.55) edging out Mazzaferro (393.00) on the last dive. Alabama's Aaron Fleshner, the invite's one- and three-meter champion, finished third (351.90).
The Vols' lone returning letterman, Muscari, responded to missing the three-meter springboard finals by less than four points as he led all UT divers in fifth (283.95).
"There were some good solid performances," UT diving coach Dave Parrington said. "We didn't dive as well as we did the first two days, but I saw a lot of encouraging things today."
One source of encouragement was junior college-transfer Michael Wright's debut platform campaign. Wright placed sixth in his first ever platform competition (283.65).
Freshman-standout Ryan Helms placed 10th (241.00), Knoxville-native Brent Sterling placed 16th (218.90) and redshirt freshman Sean Letsinger finished 21st (199.40).
Results from the Tennessee Diving Invitational can be found at divemeets.com.
The Vols will get back in action Jan. 10 in Bloomington, Ind. UT will face Big Ten rivals Indiana and Michigan in a tri-meet; all three schools are ranked in the top 15 in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association poll.
Players Mentioned
