March 30, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the third time in as many days Kentucky junior diver Greg Ferrucci found himself on the podium after his third fourth-place finish of the 2013 Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships.
What amounts to one of the best postseasons in Kentucky diving history almost never came to fruition. Ferrucci tore a ligament in his thumb late in the regular season which limited his training and competition. But he battled through without surgery and had a strong finish at the Southeastern Conference Championships, Zone C Diving Championships, and the NCAAs.
“Hats off to Greg who came back from a torn ligament and a month layoff just before SECs to have the best NCAA performances of his career,” said UK dive coach Ted Hautau.
After earning fourth place finishes on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards on the first two days of the championships, Ferrucci and teammate John Fox took to the tower to dive platform, the third and final diving event. With his fourth place finish on platform Saturday, Ferrucci set career-best NCAA finishes in all three diving events with his 418.30 in the finals which set a new team record.
In Saturday afternoon’s preliminaries, Ferrucci found himself in a familiar position up near the top of the leader board after six dives. With a 391.2, Ferrucci sat in seventh place to compete with the top eight in the finals. Fox had a rough go of it in the preliminaries and finished in 27th scoring 248.75.
For each of Ferrucci’s fourth-place finishes he earned 15 points. Kentucky finished with 45 points for the NCAA Championships, all scored via Ferrucci, to take home 22nd place, one spot off last season’s 21st place finish.
The event capped off a huge season for Ferrucci, who had garnered multiple Southeastern Conference Diver of the Week honors as well as being named SEC All-Second Team. After claiming both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard titles at the Zone C Diving Championships in West Lafayette, Ind., Ferrucci finished off the most impressive season in Kentucky diving history with nine individual event victories on the year.
The NCAA Championships marked the end of the 2012-13 season with Kentucky divers having one of their best seasons in program history.
“Great weekend for Greg and John,” said Hautau. “I’m really proud of these guys and the rest of our team who created a hardworking, competitive training environment all year long.”
