College Diving
Rider's Cavallaro and Hiller
at NCAA Zones

BUFFALO, N.Y.--Sophomore Trevor Hiller (Galloway Twp./Absegami) and senior Brendan Cavallaro (Middleboro, Mass./Middleboro) competed at the NCAA Zone 'A' Diving Championships hosted by the University at Buffalo March 9 and 10.

"Today went pretty good," said diving coach Eric Blevins.  "Trevor making finals on the one-meter was the highlight."

On the one-meter board Saturday afternoon, Hiller placed 18th in the finals with a score of 526.65 with Cavallaro finishing 41st out of 43 divers with a score of 202.15 in the preliminary round.

"Trevor was as high as eighth place after four rounds," Blevins said.  "He missed one dive but did very well overall, especially after just missing the finals on three-meter by one spot yesterday."

On the three-meter board Friday afternoon, Cavallaro placed 17th in the finals with a score of 552.95 with Hiller finishing 19th out of 41 divers in the preliminary round with a score of 272.85.

The top 18 divers qualified for the finals each day.

This was Hiller's first time qualifying for NCAA Zones.

"Today is really going to help Trevor's confidence,"  Blevins said.  "Being top 19 on both boards in his first zone appearance is great.  He almost has to convince himself that he belongs here and can compete with some of the top national divers and I think he took a big step toward that.  He is starting to realize that he is good."

Cavallaro, a three-time NCAA Zone qualifier, was 10th on the three-meter board and 31st on the one-meter at the 2011 NCAA Zones and finished 15th on the three-meter and 20th on the one-meter at the 2010 NCAA Zones during his sophomore season.

"Brendan didn't do as well as he hoped today," Blevins said.  "He made finals yesterday and competed very well and I'm proud of how hard he worked and how much he improved this season.  I'm previleaged to say that I was with him for his senior season."

-RU-