UM's Ross Shines at Canadian Winter Nationals
March 12, 2008
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By:Jacob Gamache (Diving/Plongeon Canada)
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REGINA, Saskatchewan – Reuben Ross returned home and conquered.
The Regina native saw perfect 10’s posted on three dives en route to his third gold medal this week with a victory on men’s 10-metre tower at the Winter Nationals diving competition. Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver collected her 20th career national title with a victory on women’s three-meter.
On men’s tower, Ross completed an impressive performance totaling 1,338 points for the victory. Riley McCormick of Victoria was a close second at 1,311.35 and Eric Sehn of Victoria was third at 1,215.00.
Ross opened the final with two 10’s from the seven judges for his forward three and half, then notched three more on his fourth dive, an inward three and a half and added one more 10 on his sixth and last dive a back two and half with one and a half twists.
“It went great,” said Ross, also the three-meter and 10-metre syncrho winner this week. They are his first three national titles. “I started off really strong and that was first dive was especially big for me. I actually hit my toes on the tower in the prelims with that dive so it was nice to comeback strong. It was just great to come here and show the judges what I could do with the Olympic trials coming up soon (in June).”
However the competition became close because Ross flubbed his fifth dive a back two and half for 5.0’s.
“I definitely need to work on my consistency as well as my back and reverse dives,” he said.
Ross previously won the three-meter event, receiving one perfect 10 on his opening dive – a front three and a half – in the final to take the gold with a personal best 1,343.70 points. It was his first individual national title.
“It feels great to win and also to break the 500-point barrier in the final,” said Ross. “It gives me a lot of confidence that I can do it again. And to get a 10 is something that hasn’t happened often in my career. It was special do it here in front of family and friends.”
Prior to that, Ross and Riley McCormick of Victoria won the gold medal of the men’s 10-metre synchro, with 392.73 points.
“We did a lot better than at the World Cup (last month),” said Ross. “We had to put everything together on the last dive to win and we did that. What we learned from the World Cup is that the most important thing is to focus on your own dive. You can’t change anything when you’re in the air.”
On women’s three-meter Hartley earned the gold medal with a personal best score in the final and a grand total over three rounds of 1,121.95 points. She received 9.0’s on four of her five dives in the final. Sixteen-year-old Jennifer Abel of Laval was second at 947.65 and Melanie Rinaldi of Montreal third at 908.95.
“My final was really good,” said Hartley, a two-time world champion on one-meter. “I’m trying to get more comfortable in competition and my focus was on that and today. It was a good step towards making those improvements and I’m very pleased. I feel strong and I’m diving really well.”
In men’s three-meter synchro, Cody Kolodziejzyk and Brandon Makinson of Calgary were the only entry and totaled 336.39.
Alexandre Despatie of Laval and Arturo Miranda of Pointe-Claire, Que., withdrew. Despatie hurt his back on Saturday and had withdrawn from the individual three-meter final Saturday night.
