Entering the final round of the platform diving competition at the 2008 USA Diving Olympic Trials, Auburn’s Dan Mazzaferro was in ninth place and almost 24 points out of the top six and an invitation to the USA Diving Olympic Selection Camp.

The Auburn junior proceeded to post his highest score of the competition, tallying a 431.80, but his comeback effort fell short as he finished .4 points out of sixth place with a three-day total 1246.30.

“Dan did a great job today and I was very pleased with his effort as he scored his best list of the three in the finals,” Auburn head diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. “Not very many people get the opportunity to dive in the Olympic trials, and I think this was a very positive experience for Dan.”

Shaffer did say its disappointing to come so close to making the cut for the Olympic Selection Camp, but thinks there are several things Mazzaferro can take from the experience.

“I think we can learn a lot from this competition that will help us out next year and beyond,” Shaffer said. “Yes, it is disappointing to come up seventh, but some of the positives outweigh the negative.”

The final round was the most consistent one of the meet for Mazzaferro, something he and Shaffer had been working on in preparation for the Olympic Trials. All six of his dives scored within 13 points of each other, with his best being a 79.2 effort on his third dive, a back 3.5 somersault tuck.

After working his way up through the rankings, Mazzaferro needed to out-score Matthew Cooper by more than 5.5 points in the sixth and final round to overtake him and move into the top six.

Cooper and Mazzaferro each went with the back 2.5 somersault 1.5 twist pike as their final dive. Cooper scored a 71.40, leaving Mazzaferro needing a 76.90 to move ahead in the rankings.

“My final back 2.5, I will remember for a long time,” Mazzaferro said. “I left it a tad bit short for a 7.5 that I knew would be right on the borderline. Then I looked at the scoreboard and saw I was four-tenths away.

“I’m obviously disappointed, but I will learn from it and I will make sure that never happens again.”

Even though Mazzaferro’s platform bid came up short, he still is not out of the Olympic picture as he and Miami’s J.J. Kinzbach are slated to compete at the USA Diving Olympic Selection Camp in the synchronized platform competition. The camp is scheduled for July 2-6 in Knoxville, Tenn.