March 29, 2008

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Less than a week after teammate Brittany Viola won an NCAA championship in the women's platform, University of Miami sophomore diver Reuben Ross won his first NCAA title with a score of 466.80 in the men's three-meter springboard finals Friday at the 2008 Men's Swimming and Diving Championships at the King County Aquatic Center.

Ross, who had earned All-American status on Thursday with a sixth-place finish in the one-meter finals, beat out 2007 NCAA Diver of the Year Chris Colwill of Georgia for three-meter title.

Opening the final round with a score of 77.50 on his first dive, Ross held an early four-point lead over Colwill - also the 2007 three-meter champion - after he turned in a mark of 73.40. On his second dive, Ross would extend his lead to more than 13 points with another impressive dive of 80.50. Colwill would get two points back on the third dive and nearly catch Ross on the fourth dive with a mark of 73.10 to Ross' 63.00 but the fifth dive would prove to be difference for Ross.

Just when it appeared as if Colwill was back in the hunt, Ross put in a near-perfect dive of 91.80 to Colwill's 84.00, all but clinching the title. Up by more than seven points going into the final dive, Ross scored a 77.00 to Colwill's 78.75 to clinch his first career NCAA championship.

"We gambled on his fifth dive and it paid off for us," head diving coach Randy Ableman said. "We went with a dive that had a high degree of difficulty to maximize major points and he nailed it."

The title for Ross -- a native of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada - was Miami's 22^nd men's diving title all-time and the first since Imre Lengyel won the men's 10-meter platform in 2002. Ross' win also marked the first for UM in the men's three-meter springboard since Tyce Routson came away with the title in 1997.

"It was really special to see Reuben perform the way he did tonight," Ableman said. "This had to have been the best performance of his life and it couldn't have come at a better time."

Earlier in the afternoon, Ross qualified for the finals with a seventh-place finish in the three-meter preliminary round with a score of 359.25.

"He didn't dive his best in the prelims but with the way he had been diving, I knew he still had a good chance going into the finals," Ableman added. "Going up against a defending champ is never an easy task, but Reuben went out there and really had an amazing night."

Ross' teammate Viola, who was named 2008 NCAA Women's Tri-Diver of the Year last weekend after her strong showing in Columbus, became just the third women's diver in the program's history to win a title with a score of 362.60 in the platform finals March 22.

"I am ecstatic over how well our divers have performed this last week." Ableman said. "And not to diminish what our divers have already accomplished, but our best may still be to come with Reuben and J.J. [Kinzbach] going Saturday in the platform finals."

Kinzbach - UM's other men's diver competing this weekend - won the NCAA Zone `B' platform title two weeks ago with a score of 857.30, with Ross finishing right behind his teammate in second with a mark of at 796.70.

Kinzbach finished 32^nd in Friday afternoon's three-meter prelims with a mark or 274.95.

The championships will conclude Saturday with the platform prelims set for 5 p.m. EST and the finals taking place during the 10 p.m. EST session.

Click for complete results from the men's action in Federal Way, click here.