March 18, 2009

BUFFALO, N.Y. - UMass diver Jason Cook finished second out of 57 divers in the 1-meter dive at the NCAA Zone A meet on Friday in Buffalo to qualify for the NCAA Championship in College Station, Texas, on Mar. 19-21. He is the first UMass diver to ever qualify for the national meet, doing so in his freshman season diving for Coach Mandy Hixon.

Cook's amazing first year included setting two new Atlantic 10 records in both diving events after scoring 636.85 in the 1-meter and 680.75 in the 3-meter. The Amherst, Mass. native also completed the regular season with an undefeated record in the three-meter dive while finishing as low as second only twice in the on one-meter dive.

Cook was a top performer for the Minutemen this season as he notched 16 individual wins and earned Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors after his performance against Binghamton. At the A-10 Championships, he was named the conference's Most Outstanding Diver.

Cook wasted no time establishing himself as one of UMass' all-time best divers when in his first meet as a Minuteman, at Boston University in November, broke the school-record in the 3-meter event with a score of 359.63.