Salamone Secures Second-Place Finish at Tennessee Diving Invite
Sunday, January 4, 2009 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Kara Salamone (Hollywood, Fla.) and Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla.) led the Gator divers on the first day of the Tennessee Diving Invite in Knoxville Saturday. Salamone recorded Florida's highest finish, a second place, 316.05-point effort on the three-meter board, while Lewark rallied for seventh (314.70) in the men's one-meter competition.
Following a break for finals and the holidays, the sixth-ranked Florida women and seventh-ranked UF men swung back into action at the Tennessee Diving Invite, opening the spring portion of the 2008-09 schedule with the men competing on the one-meter board and the women on the three-meter board at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
Lewark improved his ninth place one-meter prelims finish (292.85) to record a season-best mark (314.70) in finals. Lewark was UF's only representation in the 12-man final showdown. Senior Aaron Leech (Newark, Del) (245.15) and sophomore Grayson Patten (West Palm Beach, Fla.) (237.90) finished 26th and 30th, respectively in the preliminary round.
On the women's side of the board, Salamone improved her three-meter 310.80 prelims performance to 316.05 to improve from third to second overall in finals at the conclusion of the day's events.
Sophomore Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.), senior Jeana Bartell (Boca Raton, Fla.) and freshman Kaylee Doback (Brandon, Fla.) joined Salamone, advancing to the final round following prelims. Dodson finished seventh (284.60), while Bartell (284.60) and Doback (280.00) finished eighth and ninth, respectively. Dodson hit a season-best score of 300.40 to advance to the final round.
Senior Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor, Fla.) finished 22nd in preliminaries out of the 52-woman field with a score of 233.75.
The three-day diving invitational continues Sunday with preliminaries at 11 a.m., while finals are slated to begin at 6 p.m. Gator fans can follow the action online here.
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