Day One Complete At Georgia Diving Invitational

ATHENS, GA, January 3. THE 2005 Georgia Diving Invitational got underway Monday at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens.

Bulldog Chris Colwill was a double-winner on Day One, and four Georgia divers posted top-10 finishes. On the women’s side Miami’s freshman Jenna Dreyer was a double winner on the 3-meter board in the first day of the Georgia Diving Invitational Monday night, per reports from both Bulldogs and Hurricanes.

"I thought we did great on both 1-meter and 3-meter," said Georgia diving coach Dan Laak. "We are coming off a long Christmas break, so just getting in here and finishing in the top 12 in both events is great."

Colwill earned his first victory of the three-day event, as the sophomore amassed an overall score of 366.10 to win the men's 1-meter springboard event. Georgia senior captain Todd Avery finished seventh, as the Athens native tallied a score of 291.05. Sophomore Genya Gouzeev rounded out the Bulldog divers with a 12th-place finish (255.90).

Dreyer won the 3-meter event with a score of 481.60. Auburn's Ashley Rubenstein posted the highest score of the event (492.85) as an exhibitioned diver.

The Port Elizabeth, South Africa native won her second event of the day in the 3-meter shootout.

The Georgia Diving Invitational Shootout, a popular feature of the three-day meet, includes the top six finalists from each event. The divers take part in an elimination contest, with one diver being eliminated in each of the five rounds.

Dreyer took top honors in the women’s shootout with a score of 52.50 in the final round. LSU's Jessica Wants was the runner-up while Lindsey Seagraves of Auburn placed third. Allison Riccobono of Penn State took fourth followed by Georgia's Hunter and Lauren King from South Carolina who finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Colwill picked up his second win of the day, as he scored a 73.60 on the final dive of the contest to win the 1-meter shootout. Colwill also won the 1-meter shootout as a freshman at last year's invitational. Derek Starks from Miami finished second with Steve Segerlin of Auburn taking third. Miguel Velazquez of Miami, Andy Bradley of South Carolina and Dean Emmerton rounded out the bottom three spots, respectively.

"I felt great," said Colwill of his victories on opening day. "We had about a week and three days for (holiday) break. It was kind of tough getting back into it after the break. I am satisfied with how I did today. My goal is to stay in the top three in all three events, and I feel like I have a good shot at accomplishing that."

"Chris winning is always exciting," added Laak. "He won the shootout for the second year in a row, and hopefully we can keep that going. This is the first year we have had the shootout on the 3-meter, and Emily making the shootout was pretty exciting also."

The Diving Invitational continues Tuesday, with the morning prelims beginning at 11 am, which will include the women's 1-meter and the men's 3-meter events. The shootout for both events will begin at 6 pm.

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