March 23, 2006

ATLANTA, Ga. - Navy's Kevin Teague (Jr., Lexington, Ky.) opened the 2006 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship Thursday by placing 33rd on the one-meter springboard event.

Teague, competing in the second NCAA Championship of his career, totaled 240.90 points during the preliminary round of the event. After scoring 50.70 points on his opening dive, he followed with scores of 44.80 and 41.40 on his second and third dives. Teague struggled on his next two dives, totaling 27.00 and 34.10 points, respectively, then closed the round with a score of 42.90 on his final dive.

The top-16 divers in the preliminary round advanced to Thursday night's finals in the event. Joona Puhakka of Arizona State posted the highest score during the preliminary round with 389.30 points, while Genya Gouzeev of Georgia placed 16th with a score of 286.00.

In addition to Teague, Pittsburgh's Jeremy Stultz placed 30th on the one meter with 258.30 points and Penn State's Adam Pierce placed 32nd with 248.90 points. The trio all qualified for the NCAA Championship out of the Zone `A' Meet in Lejeune Hall.

The championship continues at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center with the three-meter event of Friday and the 10-meter platform contest on Saturday.