Ross Heads to the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships

March 15, 2007

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – University of Miami diver freshman Ruben Ross will compete in the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships beginning Thursday, March 15 and run through Saturday, March 17. The three-day championship meet will be held at the University of Minnesota’s University Aquatic Center. Competition will begin with the one-meter springboard preliminaries at 1:30 p.m. today.

Ross will compete in his first NCAA Championship in the men’s one-meter, three-meter and 10-meter boards after qualifying at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships.

A native of Regina Saskatchewan, Canada, Ross was impressive as he captured second place in both the one-meter and 10-meter platform events at the Zone B Diving Championships. In the men’s one-meter he posted a score of 700.55 in the finals, and finished the 10-meter platform with a score of 779.80.

The Hurricanes have a rich history at the NCAA Championships where the Miami men’s diving team has won 21 individual titles highlighted by three four-time NCAA Champions–Dean Panaro, Rio Ramirez and Tyce Routson. From 1991-2002, in one of the most impressive streaks in NCAA diving history, the Miami men’s and women’s diving teams combined for 20 individual NCAA titles. During which time, the Hurricanes won at least one national title for 12 consecutive seasons, naming at least two NCAA Champions for five consecutive seasons (1996-2000).

The last UM men’s diver to win an NCAA title was Imre Lengyel who took gold on the 10-meter platform in 2002.

Live coverage of the 2007 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships will be provided by ESPN2 and ESPN360. There will be no live coverage of today’s meets. ESPN360 will show the finals sessions on Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17 live on espn360.com, which will feature live video and audio.