University of Florida sophomore Jonathan Wilcox (Bellevue, Wash.) finished seventh of 41 competitors in the 1M dive at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships on Friday. Wilcox totaled score of 630.65, earning 324.30 points in the finals portion of the event.

“This isn’t exactly what we would have liked to see today, but you can’t really be upset about Jonathan’s effort, either,” Florida diving coach Donnie Craine said. “None of his dives were terribly bad, and most of them were really good. It didn’t work out for us today, but we have to hope for the best tomorrow.”

In the first zone-championship action of his career, sophomore Aaron Leech (Newark, Del.) was the second-highest finisher among the UF men on day one of the meet, posting a score of 262.45 on the 1M board to take 21st. Senior Justin Schmidt (Falcon, Colo.) placed 28th with a score of 253.55.

“Aaron did a great job today, especially because he’s battling a few injuries right now,” Craine said. “Justin was also a plus for us today. He gave us a steady performance, and I think we’ll see the same tomorrow.”

In women’s diving action, freshman Jennifer Funch (Cincinnati, Ohio) paced the Gator women in the 3M dive, finishing 21st behind a total of 247.20. Sophomore Jeana Bartell (Boca Raton, Fla.) placed 10 spots behind Funch with a total of 224.90. Junior Sarah Ellerby (Oldsmar, Fla.) and sophomore Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor, Fla.) placed 33rd and 34th with scores of 223.20 and 223.15, respectively.

“The women did an outstanding job today, all four of them,” Craine said. “Jennifer Funch hit a lot of dives, and could very easily have made the finals. Tomorrow is going to be a better day for the women, and I think we’ll see them show what they can do.”

Diving action will continue at Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium on Saturday, as the men will compete in the 3M dive and the women will contest the 1M board. Both events are scheduled to begin at noon EST. Live scoring can be found at www.georgiadogs.com.

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