March 2, 2007

AUSTIN, Texas - Missouri freshman diver Greg DeStephen took care of business on the first day of the NCAA Zone Diving Meet at the Jamail Swimming Center by placing second in the 1-meter competition to clinch one of the seven bids to the NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships up for grabs this weekend.

DeStephen and Eric Sehn of Texas A&M (who dove unattached) were clearly the two best competitors on the lowest springboard as they were the top finishers in prelims and throughout the finals by a healthy margin. For the Tiger rookie from Columbus, Ohio, he opened the finals with two strong dives that received sevens across the board from the judges and scored well on his remaining four dives.

He finished with 615.85 points and will now be able to dive with a little less stress on the final two days of the event. The NCAA Men's Swimming & Diving Championships will run from March 15-17 in Minneapolis, Minn.

Mizzou men's swimming standout Bennett Clark will find out if his consideration times established throughout the season will be accepted into the championship field next Thursday, March 8 when the NCAA releases its psych sheet.

Other MU divers competing in Austin included Kendra Melnychuk (5th on 3-meter) and Kim Massaro (14th on 3-meter) on the women's side and David Boyko (7th on 1-meter) on the men's side. Boyko will also advance to the championships due to the fact that there are seven spots available from each of the five zones and there are seven total competitors in Zone D.