BUFFALO, NY – Competition continued on Saturday with the men's one-meter and women's three-meter events at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships at the University at Buffalo's Alumni Arena Natatorium.
In the men's one-meter event, George Mason's Derrick Butts took the title with a 12-dive total of 689.65 points to hold off second-place finisher Michael Mosca of Harvard (684.15) by 5.50 points. He rallied from a fifth-place showing in the preliminary round to claim the title, scoring 367.50 points for his six dives in the championship round. Butts won the one- and three-meter titles at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships in February.
In the women's three-meter event, Connecticut's Danielle Cecco took the title with 643.05 points for her 12 dives. Cecco, who was in second place behind Virginia Tech's Logan Kline after the preliminary round scored 323.75 points in the championship round to overtake Kline. Kline finished as the runner-up with 613.50 points.
Buffalo's Ava Giachino reached the championship final in the women's three-meter competition. Giachino finished in 14th place with 510.95 points. She scored 265.70 in the preliminary round and 245.25 in the championship round. Rachel Eckert was 31st of 44 for the Bulls with 223.30 in the preliminaries.
Neither of UB's men's divers moved past the preliminaries on the one-meter board. Colin Patrican placed 23rd of 43 with 259.15 points for his six dives while Chris Iafrati was 31st with 236.70 points.
Competition concludes Sunday with men's and women's platform diving.