March 13, 2004
March 14, 2004
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Boilermaker divers Carrie McCambridge, Amanda Miller and J.R. Hillis will be heading to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, after clinching their spots at this weekend's Central Regional Diving Zones.
Miller will be joining McCambridge and freestyle swimmer Tracy Duchac at next week's women's meet in College Station, Texas. Hillis, winner of Sunday's platform competition, will team with swimmers Tamas Bessenyei, Louis Paul and Giordan Pogioli at the men's national championships, which begin in two weeks on Long Island.
"I'm very happy for my divers, everyone did a great job this weekend," said Chen. "They've been competing so much this season, and are taking a lot of dives, but all of them held on very well."
Purdue's men's head coach, Dan Ross, was thrilled at how Chen has turned around the Boilermaker diving program in a few short years.
"We have ourselves a great coach in Wenbo Chen," said Ross. "He has achieved a number of firsts for this program, in fact, I think this is the first time we've sent both male and female divers to the NCAA Championships. My hat also is off to Clay and Josh, and I hope that the disappointment they might be feeling will fuel their competitive fire this summer and into next season."
Because the NCAA accepts only six male divers from the Central Regional Zone, both Davis and Karshen just missed the cut by one or two spots. Luckily, Hillis was able to claim the final spot for the Boilermakers with his winning score of 457.50.
Hillis' score beat Big Ten champion, Michigan's Jason Coben, as well as teammate Josh Karshen, who claimed third with 438.20 points. Veteran Purdue diver, Clayton Davis, placed ninth with a score of 389.95.
Whereas Hillis advanced through his skills, Miller advanced because of her skills and some luck. Miller placed eighth off the platform with a score of 343.85, but because most of the people that placed ahead of her had already clinched their spot at NCAA's, Miller's placing was high enough to get her there, as well.
Chen said that Miller claimed the 10th of 11 open spots reserved for the Central Region Zone at the NCAA Championships.
McCambridge, who clinched her NCAA spot Friday after finishing third off the one-meter springboard, placed fifth in the platform competition with a 378.90. She and Miller compete again next Thursday at the Texas A&M Natatorium, with hopes of winning a national title.