N  I  A  G  A  R  A      G  A  Z  E  T  T  E

Published: March 12, 2008 10:29 pm   

COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: O’Rourke already in the zone at NU

Ian O’Rourke has been repeating his mantra all week.

“Got to stay confident. Got to stay confident.”

O’Rourke knows what it takes to be a champion diver, having won a pair of state titles and four sectional titles at Grand Island High School.

In his freshman season with the Niagara Purple Eagles, O’Rourke is on the NCAA Championship bubble, set to compete in this weekend’s Zone A qualifying event at UB’s Alumni Arena.

O’Rourke qualified in the one-meter and three-meter diving events at the outset of the season, allowing plenty of time to prepare for the season’s culminating competition.

“Coming in, I wasn’t sure what to expect because it’s a whole new environment, a whole new arena,” O’Rourke said. “I just decided to go out and try to have fun and see what happens. It was a little bit of a surprise to qualify so early in the season.”

“We’ve never had anybody from Niagara qualify,” said diving coach Brooke Nigro. “For Ian to come in and do it at one of his first meets was impressive. One of the goals I had for him was to go ahead and qualify and get that over with early, so we can kind of play around with the rest of the competitions, try out new dives and relax a little.”

The competition gets underway at 1 p.m. Friday. The winner of the one-meter event and the top two performers in the three-meter event will earn a trip to the NCAA Championships later this month in Federal Way, Washington.

O’Rourke is very familiar with the environment at Alumni, having trained there with the Buffalo Wings club for years.

“Hopefully I can capitalize on that,” he said.

While some were surprised that O’Rourke chose Niagara over some bigger programs that were recruiting him, the squatty Purple Eagle said he’s found a “perfect situation” where he can realize his potential.

“I’m still close to home and have family around for support,” O’Rourke said. “The team environment here is awesome. I’ve never had teammates that were so loud.

“I’m glad I stuck around.”

According to Nigro, O’Rourke’s goal this weekend is more about peak performance than winning. Her hope is to get O’Rourke mentally prepared to win the Zone A championship in future seasons.

But O’Rourke could follow in the wet footprints of teammate Pat Garvey, who finished his senior season earlier this month by winning the 100 butterfly race at the ECAC Championships, after being seeded 63rd heading into the event.

Can O’Rourke achieve something similar? Doubtless, he’s confident.

•••

Four locals helped the SUNY Brockport women’s basketball team to a program-best 25-5 record this season.

The Golden Eagles also won their first NCAA tournament game, getting a career-high 32 points, 11 rebounds and a key three-point play late from Brenlyn Campbell (Lew-Port) in a 68-64 win over Emmanuel.

Kim Schon (Lockport) was the team’s top rebounder, averaging 8.2 per game to go along with her 11.5 scoring average. Molly Brewer (Lockport) averaged 13.2 minutes off the bench and shot better than 40 percent from 3-point range.

Tiara Durant (Lockport) played sparingly as a freshman. She, Campbell and Brewer are all expected to return next season.

•••

Robert Harris (Niagara Falls) averaged 30 points and close to 11 rebounds in his final five games for the Texas-Permian Basin, a member of the Division II Heartland Athletic Conference.

Harris finished the season averaging 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds, leading the Falcons (11-15) in both categories. The 6-foot-5, 240-pound forward also made 44 percent of his 3-point attempts. He is eligible to play one more season after this.

Former Wolverine teammate Jeff Parmer started 30 games and averaged 9.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in his senior season at Florida Atlantic. The Owls won eight of 12 down the stretch to finish 15-18.

•••

Two weeks back we noted Jake Brant’s standout effort at the USA Junior Weightlifting Nationals and mentioned that a broken hand prematurely ended his freshman football season at St. John Fisher.

Actually, Brant was a sophomore this season and kept his spot in the defensive line rotation despite the injury.