March 13, 2010
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- One day after finishing in fifth place in the three-meter springboard competition, Navy's Olaf Olson placed ninth on the one meter Saturday at the NCAA Zone `A' Diving Championship. The three-day event is being held in Piscataway, N.J., and is being hosted by Rutgers.
Olson stood in 11th place after the preliminary rounds of diving with 277.90 points, but he tallied the fifth-highest point total during the finals session (310.05) to move into ninth place by the end of the day with a total score of 587.95.
"Olaf dove really well today," said Navy head coach Joe Suriano. "He missed one dive and was spectacular on all of his other ones."
In addition to Olson's efforts, teammate Ben Nicholas (So., Bothell, Wash.) finished 28th in Saturday's competition. He accrued 235.80 points during the preliminary round.
"Ben looked good out there today," said Suriano. "His last dive cost him, otherwise he would have finished much higher.
"This has become a very deep meet loaded with great divers. It is a tough field to go up against."
Virginia Tech's Michael McDonals posted a score of 693.20 to win the one-meter event.
The Zone meet will come to a close Sunday with the platform diving competition.
