ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 22, 1996 TAG: 9606240144
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS
SOURCE: Associated Press
Defending Olympic springboard champion Mark Lenzi came from 10 points behind on his last dive to earn a trip to the Atlanta Games on Friday night. Scott Donie claimed the other 3-meter berth.
Lenzi entered the final in fourth place, and battled furiously to make up ground on Donie and second-place Dean Panaro.
Donie finished first with 1202.28 points to Lenzi's 1198.08. Panaro had 1187.16 points.
Diving ahead of Panaro and Donie, Lenzi had the highest degree of difficulty on his final dive, a reverse 3 1/2 somersault that earned five marks of 9.5 and two 9.0s.
Donie and Panaro appeared to have the two Olympic berths locked up until Panaro performed badly on his third dive. He received marks ranging from 4.5 to 5.5 for the reverse 3 1/2 somersault, the same dive Lenzi aced to keep Panaro off the team.
Panaro watched Lenzi's final dive, then closed his eyes and turned away after seeing the high marks.
Yet he held his own under pressure, finishing strongly with an inward 2 1/2 somersault that earned mostly 9.0s. But the low 3.0 degree of difficulty could not compete with the tougher final dives by Lenzi and Donie.
Donie, the 1992 Olympic 10-meter platform silver medalist, faltered only slightly when Panaro took over first place on their third dives. But Donie regained the lead he had held since preliminaries with a backward 2 1/2 somersault on his fourth dive.
Lenzi, formerly of Fredricksburg, Va., got the crowd roaring and set the tone for a dramatic finish with a spectacular backward 2 1/2 somersault on his second dive. He earned four perfect 10.0s and three 9.5s to move from fourth to third.
Lenzi came out of a 20-month retirement in April 1995 to train for next month's Olympics, and moved from Florida to Bloomington to work with his old college coach.
All had not gone smoothly during this week's trials, though.
His left shoulder is reportedly hurting, and Lenzi did not look like the defending gold medalist in the semifinal.
He trailed Panaro of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., by more than 123 points going into the evening final.
The women's 10-meter platform competition began Friday night with '92 Olympic bronze medalist Mary Ellen Clark recovering from a poor second dive to wind up third after the preliminary. She is attempting to make her second straight team at age 33.
Eileen Richetelli of Milford, Conn., led the 11 women with 334.86 points after five optional dives. She gained first place on her final dive, a back 11/2 somersault with 2 1/2 twists that earned one 9.5 and two 9.0s.
``I felt pretty good, maybe a little conservative,'' said Richetelli, who was third in springboard on Thursday. ``Anything can happen. It can take just one dive to get you out of the competition.''
Cheril Santini of Dallas was second with 321.78 points. The semifinals are today.
``I did my best platform diving tonight,'' said Santini, who was 10th in springboard. ``Normally, I'm known as the 1-meter girl and tonight I showed I could dive platform.''
Clark dropped from third to 10th after two dives when she over-rotated entering the water on a reverse with 2 1/2 somersaults. Her marks ranged from 4.0 to 4.5 and she appeared to be out of contention until moving up on her last dive with one 9.5 and two 9.0s.
Lenzi, 27, tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder since dropping out of flight school in Florida to resume diving. The injury healed, only to have his left shoulder act up.
His coach, Hobie Billingsley, downplayed Lenzi's injury, and insisted that once the diver slept without a pillow he felt better.
``The pain went away this morning,'' he said. ``He doesn't give any excuses about pain.''
With most of the attention focusing on Lenzi and Donie, Panaro seemed miffed at what he perceived as a lack of attention prior to the final despite despite being a four-time NCAA springboard champion and the 1995 Pan American Games gold medalist.
``This is no big surprise to me,'' he said. ``It gets a little annoying hearing that I'm a newcomer. I was in the '92 trials [sixth], I've been on the national team since '89, I've been around. I'm in the prime of my career.''
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Mark Lenzi, the defending Olympic springboard goldby CNBmedalist, eyes the water during the semifinals of the men's 3-meter
springboard at the U.S. Olympic diving trials.