Sam Thornton
Texas A&M’s Thornton wins 1m at Zone D, advances to NCAA meet
Mar 08, 2016 | Men's Swimming and Diving
COLLEGE STATION, Texas. – Texas A&M freshman Sam Thornton rallied past a pair of Texas Longhorns on his way to a victory in the one-meter springboard dive at the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships on Tuesday at the Student Recreation Center on the A&M campus.
With the win, Thornton, from Baildon, United Kingdom, earned his first trip to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Thornton posted a 12-dive total of 746.05 points that propelled him past Texas' Cory Bowersox (723.35) and Mark Anderson (717.30) for the victory.
Thornton trailed both Anderson and Bowersox after the six-dive prelims, but briefly took the lead after his ninth dive of the finals. Anderson regained the lead after the 10th round before Bowersox took the top spot after round 11. On his final dive, Thornton nailed a forward 3 ½ somersault tuck for a score of 72.00 to emerge on top of the fray.
It was vindication for Thornton who was in a position to qualify for the NCAA meet in the 3m dive on Monday, but faded down the stretch and finished just one spot away from qualifying.
"Last night was frustrating to say the least," Thornton said. "But I was able to put it behind pretty quickly and started preparing for the one-meter. I had good preparation in the morning and was able to capitalize tonight in both the prelims and finals. It's always a battle with the Texas guys so it feels really great to come out on top."
In other action involving the Aggie men, both freshman Skylar Lake and junior Colton Haffey advanced to the one-meter final with Lake finishing 12th with a score of 658.80 and Haffey taking 14th with 635.65 points.
The top seven finishers in the men's one-meter dive earned NCAA berths:
Men 1m Championship
(12 Dives)
Place Score Diver (School)
1 746.05 Sam Thornton (Texas A&M)
2 723.35 Cory Bowersox (Texas)
3 717.30 Mark Anderson (Texas)
4 704.00 Sean OBrien (Texas)
5 696.50 Manny Pollard (Minnesota)
6 684.65 Dylan Zoe (Minnesota)
7 682.75 Matt Barnard (Minnesota)
With the win, Thornton, from Baildon, United Kingdom, earned his first trip to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Thornton posted a 12-dive total of 746.05 points that propelled him past Texas' Cory Bowersox (723.35) and Mark Anderson (717.30) for the victory.
Thornton trailed both Anderson and Bowersox after the six-dive prelims, but briefly took the lead after his ninth dive of the finals. Anderson regained the lead after the 10th round before Bowersox took the top spot after round 11. On his final dive, Thornton nailed a forward 3 ½ somersault tuck for a score of 72.00 to emerge on top of the fray.
It was vindication for Thornton who was in a position to qualify for the NCAA meet in the 3m dive on Monday, but faded down the stretch and finished just one spot away from qualifying.
"Last night was frustrating to say the least," Thornton said. "But I was able to put it behind pretty quickly and started preparing for the one-meter. I had good preparation in the morning and was able to capitalize tonight in both the prelims and finals. It's always a battle with the Texas guys so it feels really great to come out on top."
In other action involving the Aggie men, both freshman Skylar Lake and junior Colton Haffey advanced to the one-meter final with Lake finishing 12th with a score of 658.80 and Haffey taking 14th with 635.65 points.
The top seven finishers in the men's one-meter dive earned NCAA berths:
Men 1m Championship
(12 Dives)
Place Score Diver (School)
1 746.05 Sam Thornton (Texas A&M)
2 723.35 Cory Bowersox (Texas)
3 717.30 Mark Anderson (Texas)
4 704.00 Sean OBrien (Texas)
5 696.50 Manny Pollard (Minnesota)
6 684.65 Dylan Zoe (Minnesota)
7 682.75 Matt Barnard (Minnesota)
Players Mentioned
Diving
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Diving
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