NCAA Championships

Day three

 

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Virginia Tech diver Mikey McDonald (Annandale, Va.) overcame the obstacle of not having a 10-meter platform on campus to practice on each day by finishing 15^th in the event during the third and final day of the 2008 Men's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the King County Aquatic Center outside of Seattle. The sophomore concludes his first trip to the meet with eight points and three top-20 finishes.

Virginia Tech placed 37^th with eight points in the team competition because of McDonald's performance this week. Arizona won the title with 500.5 points, followed by Texas (406) and Stanford (344) in second and third-place, respectively. Only three other ACC schools (Virginia, North Carolina, Miami) earned points with the Cavaliers leading the pack at 15^th with 69 total.

"Mikey just did a fantastic job with two really good lists of dives," diving coach Ron Piemonte said. "A lot of coaches have told me that today was the most difficult and deepest platform event in the history of the NCAA Diving Championships. Considering that we only have a five-meter platform, for Mikey to get in the top-16 is huge. It was really a lot of fun to watch and shows what kind of competitor he is."

"For this to be his first time at the NCAAs, I think he had a really good shot at doing well in the 3-meter as well," he added. "I just think he has a really good future ahead of him in the next couple of years."

On Thursday, the All-ACC diver took 11^th in the 1-meter for his first of two All-America honorable mention honors and finished 18^th in the 3-meter on Friday, just missing out on another trip to the consolation final by 8.5 points.

"It was awesome to just come out here and compete against these great divers," McDonald said. "It was so much fun because I only get to perform (on the platform) a couple of times a year, so it was nice to get up there and do well because it hurts if you mess up."

"I just tried to do the best I could to represent Tech because in college, it's no longer an individual sport but rather a team sport," he added. "We're just trying to sneak out with as many points as possible."

McDonald will now look to take his experiences from this week and use them as motivation for his final two seasons at Tech. He will get help though when construction is completed during next winter on the new aquatic center in Christiansburg that will include full diving amenities with 5-, 7.5- and 10-meter platforms being added.

"I'm always looking to improve, and I think with Ron, improvement is always possible because he's an awesome coach," McDonald said. "Hopefully in a couple of years, I'll have a shot at the title. You just never know with diving. On any day, anything can happen."

Senior Kaan Tayla (Ankara, Turkey) concluded his collegiate career by finishing 26^th in the 100-yard freestyle event after placing 17^th in the 50 free on Thursday. He leaves Tech as the school-record holder in the 50 and 100 free events while also having helped set relay records in the 200 medley and the 200 and 400 free. A two-time individual ACC Champion, Tayla will represent Turkey in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

In total, Tech sent six competitors to the NCAA Championships. Team highlights from the 2007-08 season also included the men winning their first-ever Nike Cup title on UNC's campus and both squads finishing with a combined 26-5 record, comprising of impressive dual-meet sweeps over Georgia Tech, Kentucky, NC State, Pittsburgh and South Carolina.