IU divers inch closer to Athens dream

With both IU men's and women's diving teams steeped in tradition, the U.S. Olympic Trials for diving saw a large Hoosier contingent invade St. Peters, Mo., in their quest to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.\nOf the 83 divers to compete in the Trials, 12 either currently attend IU or have graduated from the Bloomington campus. \nA group of Hoosiers including recent graduate Sara Hildebrand and current seniors Cassandra Cardinell and Marc Carlton, advanced to Saturday's final round. \nHildebrand, a 2000 Olympian, currently sits in fifth place for the 3-meter event behind IU graduate Kimiko Soldati, who currently leads the pack in first place, amassing 557.40 points during the preliminary rounds.\nAfter her completion of both the preliminary and semifinal rounds, Cardinell enters the final round in ninth place.\nHildebrand and Cardinell have shared success in the synchronized 3-meter event in the past. The two earned a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in the summer of 2003 and won two more bronze medals at the World University Games as well.\nAfter Tuesday's preliminary round of the 3-meter event, Carlton, a senior on IU's men's team, sat in 14th place. Following a strong performance in the afternoon's semifinal round, Carlton scored 549.54 points, lifting him to 12th place going into his final round.\nThe qualifying process is different for each event, depending on whether the divers dove off a springboard or a platform.\nThe final placement of divers in an individual event will be determined by their final score in that event. The final score for each diver will be derived from the scores from all three sessions -- preliminary, semifinal, final -- in each individual event. The points will be carried over and added together for a final, cumulative score.\nThe winner of an individual platform event, the diver with the highest cumulative score, will be nominated for the U.S. Olympic Team. \nThe diver who places second in an individual platform event at the Trials will be nominated if he or she is also a nominee for or has won the synchronized event at that height.\nFor the springboard events, the qualifying process is much simpler. Both the winner and the second-place finisher will be nominated for the U.S. Olympic team.\nThe U.S. Olympic Trials feature 44 men and 39 women competing for 11 possible spots on the team. The final team size may be less than 11 if one or more divers qualify in multiple events.\nThe competition will continue throughout the week.