The University of Florida diving team opened up the second half of their season with a strong showing among some tough competition at the Georgia Diving Invitational this afternoon. The women competed on the one-meter board while the men dove from the three-meter.

The women were led by Jeanna Bartell (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) who finished seventh and eighth overall on the one-meter board.  Bartell scored 251.20 points in the final after finishing sixth in the preliminaries with a score of 256.10 while Dodson turned in score of 243.20, just 2.25 points behind her morning score of 245.45.

Jennifer Funch (Cincinnati, Ohio) placed 16^th overall following the morning preliminary dive with a score of 227.95.  She was joined by Sarah Ellerby (Oldsmar, Fla.) who placed 20^th with a score of 209.80.  Rachel Sowers’ (Longwood, Fla.) score of 191.80 placed her 28^th overall and Whitney Stern (Safety Harbor, Fla.) rounded out the Gator finishers with a 32^nd place score of 182.95.

On the men’s side, Aaron Leech (Newark, Del.) had Florida’s best finish of the afternoon on the three-meter board.  Leech placed 20^th overall with a score of 251.55.  Fellow Gator Grayson Patten (West Palm Beach, Fla.) placed 35^th with a score of 187.00.

Florida will continue competition tomorrow as the women take to the three meter board and the men attempt the one meter dive.  Saturday the meet will move up to the platform, an event that the Gator women have found great success on this season.