March 15, 2007
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Sophomore Zach Schultz earned All-America status in his NCAA Championship debut Thursday night with a seventh-place total of 330.10 points off the 1-meter springboard.
Schultz is the fourth Purdue diver in two years to garner an All-America citation. Former Boilermaker Carrie McCambridge and senior Steve LoBue combined for four certificates last season, and Amanda Miller claimed three in-a-row at last weekend's NCAA women's championship.
Schultz slipped past Cal's Sam Helvie for the last of the finals spots during prelims, scoring 335.90 points to Helvie's 333.00.
During finals, Schultz moved up to seventh despite scoring five fewer points. The Chicago native survived a second dive total of 39 points by scoring in between 55 and 65 points on his five remaining attempts.
Freshman Danny Cox' NCAA debut was not as successful as his teammates. Cox scored 281.75 on 1-meter to place 24th in prelims.
Junior Romain Maire, the Boilermakers' lone swimmer making the trip to nationals in Minneapolis, placed 28th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:47.54.
All three Boilermakers return to action Friday. Cox and Schultz dive off the 3-meter, while Maire competes in the 400 IM.