March 12, 2005

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Notre Dame freshman Sam Stoner (Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso H.S.) finished 17th off the one-meter board Friday in the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. The Irish rookie will continue action on Saturday in the NCAA qualifying meet, taking part in three-meter springboard action.

Stoner, who finished fifth at last month's BIG EAST Championships in one-meter action, posted a six-dive score of 246.65 in prelims to rank 16th and then followed that up with a 244.20 in finals (18th) to finish with a combined mark of 490.85 that was 17th in the 32-diver field. It was the top finish for an Irish rookie in one-meter action in the meet since Andy Maggio was 14th in 2000.

Six of the top performers from the meet will advance to the NCAA Championships, slated for March 24-26 at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Irish sophomore Tim Kegelman (Yorktown, Va./Tabb H.S.) has already earned an invitation to the meet, the first ever for a Notre Dame men's swimmer.