USA Diving Winter Nationals Preliminary Rounds Complete, Landon Marzullo Tops Field in Two Events

COLUMBUS, Ohio, February 3. AFTER two days of competition, Florida State University's Landon Marzullo leads qualifiers in two events at the 2010 USA Diving Winter Nationals.

Members of last year's world championship team, as well as top finishers from last year's nationals, were allowed to skip the preliminary rounds, which were held Monday and Tuesday at The Ohio State University's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. These prequalified divers will appear in quarterfinal action beginning Thursday.

Marzullo, a former NCAA All-American from Indiana University who now attends Florida State, was prequalified for the platform diving competition, but had to go through preliminary rounds in the springboard events, where he handily walked away as top qualifier in the men's 1-meter and 3-meter preliminary rounds. On Monday, Marzullo won the 1-meter competition with 375.80 points, just nine points ahead of Weston Wieser, diving unattached.

Marzullo completed his preliminary competition Tuesday with a more decisive win on the 3-meter springboard. His total of 402.55 was 24.55 points ahead of Purdue University's David Colturi, who placed second with 378.30 points. Colturi is also prequalified for the platform diving competition, and will compete in that event's quarterfinals on Friday.

In other diving action, Harrison Jones of The Woodlands Diving Academy won the preliminary round of the men's platform diving with 398.45 points. Ben Grado of Tucson Diving was 31.65 points behind in second place. Jones was already prequalified for the platform diving and had the option to skip the preliminary rounds. He is also prequalified for the 1-meter event. Grado is also a prequalifier for the 1-meter springboard.

In women's diving, Stanford Diving had two top preliminary finishers in Margaret Hostage and Cassidy Krug. Hostage finished first in the 1-meter springboard with 255.15 points, while Krug was the top preliminary diver in the women's 3-meter springboard with 343.80 points.

Carmen Stellar, diving unattached, was the top diver in the women's platform event, earning 285.50 points over Team Orlando's Wallace Layland, who finished just 8.40 points behind.

The 2010 winter nationals serves as a qualifying meet for the 2010 FINA World Cup, which begins June 2 in China, and the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix, May 6-9 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

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