Trinity University

Justin Parker '99
jparker@trinity.edu
(210) 999-8447
Mar. 28, 2012

Winter Sports Roundup

Diving National Champion Highlights Winter Sports Season

SAN ANTONIO - After going to the NCAA Championships last year, Trinity University diver Ruth Hahn had the distinct advantage of experience on her side when the time came for the 2012 national meet, held March 21-24 in Indianapolis, Ind.  She earned All-America honors on both the one-meter and three-meter boards last season, and while the expectations were high for the junior from Knoxville, Tenn., Hahn was up to the challenge and more.

Hahn came roaring back on the final evening of competition to win Trinity's third NCAA Division III Diving Championship in the last three years.  Hahn scored a total of 481.00 points in the three-meter finals to earn the national championship, despite starting the evening session in fourth place.   She joins former Tigers Lindsay Martin (one-meter) and Hayley Emerick (three-meter), who both won NCAA Diving Championships in 2010. 

At the one-meter competition earlier in the week, Hahn picked up another All-American honor by finishing fifth with a score of 424.35 overall.  Sophomore Katie Sheldon also competed on both boards during the NCAA Championships, finishing 16th in the one-meter event for Honorable Mention All-America status, and coming in 18th in the three-meter competition.  Tiger swimmer Melanie Gustafson also picked up Honorable Mention All-America recognition by finishing 16th in the 1,650 freestyle event.  Gustafson and Trinity's Spencer Bard also competed in the 500 freestyle and 100 butterfly, respectively, earning top-40 finishes nationally. 

Trinity's men's basketball team wrapped up its season with a 1-1 record in the NCAA Playoffs.  The Tigers opened the postseason with an upset victory over nationally-ranked University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, as senior guard Ryan Beall dropped in a three-pointer in the final seconds to put Trinity on top 68-66.  The next night, against seventh-ranked Whitworth University, Trinity's season came to a halt in a 63-54 second-round loss.  The Tigers made a late push to turn a 21-point deficit into just three points, but Whitworth held on in the end.

It was Trinity's first 20-win season since 2008-09, tying for the sixth-most wins ever for a Tiger men's basketball team.  The Tigers won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship for the first time since 2005, and for the sixth time in program history.  All but one of the school's eight appearances in the NCAA Playoffs have come under the direction of Head Coach Pat Cunningham, who earned his 400th career victory during the season.