BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky University divers Jim Ritter and Vinnie Rominger competed last week at the AAU Diving National Championships at Coral Springs Aquatic Center in Coral Springs, Fla., and came away with WKU's first AAU National Diving Champion.
"I have to say that I thought they did a great job," WKU head diving coach Bob Benson said. "They worked extremely hard all summer and that work paid off. They have put themselves in a great position to have a very successful junior year. The dedication these guys have shown from the beginning of their freshman year has been amazing, and I'm glad to see them beginning to reap the rewards of that hard work."
In the 3-meter springboard competition, Ritter took gold while Rominger earned the silver after a close battle. In the preliminaries of the event, Rominger finished first while Ritter struggled and went into the finals in fourth place, 40 points behind his teammate. During the finals, Ritter bounced back to make up the difference and just passed Rominger to take first with a score of 404.10. Rominger finished with a mark of 401.90.
"I was a little disappointed after the preliminaries, so I just kept telling myself in finals that I had nowhere to go but up and that really let me relax and go after all my dives," Ritter said. "It felt good to know that I could come back from that and win a national title."
The championships started with the 1-meter springboard event. Rominger stood in first place following the preliminaries and took third in the finals with a score of 381.60 while Ritter scored 372.45 to place fourth.
"I'm really glad I decided to train all summer," Rominger said. "I was pretty happy with how I dove in Florida, but I know there is still a lot of work left to do - it got me excited for what I hope to accomplish this season."
Both divers are entering their junior seasons on the WKU swimming and diving team and will be important parts of its success this coming year.
