Three UT divers punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships this week at the NCAA Zone B Championships.
Facing tough competition and only a small number of available slots — ten for the women and five for the men — junior Tori Lamp and senior Jodie McGroarty for the Lady Vols and senior Brent Sterling for the men were able to rise above the pressure of the situation and perform against teams from around the region at the level that diving coach Dave Parrington expected of them.
“I felt like we had an excellent shot at getting two women in the meet, Tori and Jodie, and we got that accomplished,” Parrington said. “And we thought we had a good shot with Brent, but I knew with only five slots, it was going to be a really tough thing to get done. And to his credit he stepped up yesterday and did an awesome job.”
McGroarty was guaranteed a spot following her performance Monday, in which she placed third on the 3-meter springboard, and Lamp and Sterling both wrapped up their places on Tuesday with their strong performances in the women’s 1-meter and the men’s 3-meter, respectively. For Parrington, the setup of this meet, in which a diver must compete and must qualify at the Zones to make it to the NCAA Championship, makes it one of the pressure-riddled competitions the team will face all year long.
“This is not really the most fun of coaching experiences for most college coaches, because it’s different than any other meet in the world,” Parrington said. “… There’s a lot at stake because they get one shot all year to make the NCAA Championships, so that just changes the whole mindset of the coaches and the competitors. It’s a tough meet.”
For Sterling, who will be making his third trip to the NCAAs, his second-place finish with a score of 731.10 points in the 3-meter finals yesterday was a huge stress reliever.
“I was stressed out and nervous at the start of the week,” Sterling said. “… It’s just a huge load off my back to make it, and I just really wanted to end my career at NCAAs.”
Sterling faced stiff competition in two events from Nick McCrory, a senior at Duke and bronze medalist in the 10-meter platform at the 2012 London Olympics, and John Santieu IV from Auburn, who took first in the 3-meter. For Sterling, the key to his and the others divers’ performances was consistency.
“The big thing is consistency,” Sterling said. “You can’t make any real big mistakes or you’re going to be out of the contest.”
Other Vols competing were freshman Samantha Lera, who came up just short of qualifying in the platform, and senior Jordan Mauney, who closed out his UT career yesterday with a 15th place finish in the platform preliminary round. Next up for the divers will be the NCAA Championships, which begins March 21 for the women and March 28 for the men. This quick turn around for both teams is something that Parrington is trying to combat.
“I give them tomorrow off,” Parrington said. “You’re coming off the SECs and then come into here with everything on the line is tough … This is the time to get caught up in school and get any injuries figured out.”
Regardless of the lack of time, Parrington is hopeful for his diver’s chances.
“I like where we’re at,” he said with a chuckle. “I like what I think we can do.”
