March 22, 2008

Platform Results

COLUMBUS, Ohio - University of Miami sophomore Brittany Viola became just the third women's diver in UM history to win an NCAA Championship with a first place finish of 362.60 in the platform finals of the 2008 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at Ohio State University's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion Saturday.

Viola joins Jenny Keim, who owns UM's two most recent titles with wins in the 10-meter platform in 2000 and the three-meter springboard in 1999, and Wendy Williams, who won the program's first championship in the 1999 platform, as the only Hurricanes to have won an NCAA women's diving title.

"I'm so proud of Brittany for the way she performed tonight," head diving coach Randy Ableman said. "I could see it in her eye that she wanted this title and she was determined to go out there and get it. She has worked so hard to get to this point, it was just so gratifying to see it all pay off for her."

Viola, a native of Orlando, Fla., opened the finals with a mark of 63.00 on her first dive before moving into the lead with the top score of the night, 86.40, on her second dive. On her third dive, Viola again put together an impressive dive of 81.60 to extend her lead even more. Her lowest mark of the finals, 58.00, came on her fourth dive but a solid 73.60 on her fifth and final dive secured her first collegiate championship.

"It's been a few years since our last title and Brittany's accomplishment tonight certainly puts our program right back where it should be," Ableman added. "It was really fantastic to see her go out there and beat the nation's top divers to win her first title."

Her winning score of 362.60 was the highest-scoring point total at the NCAA Championship since Indiana's Cassandra Cardinell won the title with a mark of 501.45 in 2005.

Stanford's Margaret Hostage would prove to be Viola's closest competition throughout the final round Saturday night. Never scoring below 60, Hostage's top score of 81.60 came in her final dive but it was too late, as her score of 347.20 finished 15.40 points behind Viola's total.

Earlier in the day, Viola had also finished first in the preliminary round with a score of 331.85, beating out Hostage (312.80) and Lacey Trulove of Houston (304.95). Viola's five scores in the prelims were 61.50, 76.80, 59.50, 65.25 and 68.80.

Prior to winning the platform title, Viola had earned All-American status on two different occasions. She first earned All-American status as a freshman with a sixth place finish of 294.55 in the 2007 NCAA platform finals before a seventh place finish this past Thursday in the one-meter springboard.

Viola's championship gives UM a total of 25 diving titles between the men and women.

Platform Final Results                        Total (5 dives)

1. Brittany Viola (Miami)                          362.60

2. Margaret Hostage (Stanford)             347.20

3. Kara Cook (Purdue)                            311.00

4. Kristen Asman (Ohio State)                291.35
5. Shana Karp (Stanford)                       280.65

6. Lacey Truelove (Houston)                  272.35

7. Audra Egenolf (SMU)                          233.55

8. Monica Dodson (Florida)                     206.10