Dec. 13, 2011

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -

Senior Ben Grado (Conifer, Colo.) and sophomore Samantha Pickens (Murrysville, Pa.) will compete in the USA Winter Diving National Championships beginning on Thursday, Dec. 15 and continuing through Thursday, Dec. 22 in Knoxville, Tenn.

At the event, 10 national titles will be awarded, but the meet will also serve as the final opportunity to qualify for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials and will be used to select rosters for several 2012 international competitions, including the FINA World Cup in February.

Both divers posted impressive scores at the ATT USA Diving Championships in August of 2011, qualifying Pickens for the finals in the 1m and Grado for the finals in the 1m, 3m and platform events.

Pickens will compete in the first days of the meet on the 3m in hopes of qualifying for the Championships that will take place later in the week.

Grado has already qualified on the 3m and 10m platform events for the USA Diving Olympic Trials, taking place in June 2012 in Seattle, Wash. Pickens hopes to qualify for the trials by placing in the top-12 at nationals early next week.

The competition schedule can be found at http://www.usadiving.org/05redesign/main/news_12_09_11.htm.

Results will be available on www.usadiving.org and on www.divemeets.com.

For complete results and continued coverage of Arizona Diving, visit ArizonaWildcats.com.