INDIANAPOLIS — Auburn’s Dan Mazzaferro dropped three places Thursday during the semifinals of the platform diving at the 2008 USA Diving Olympic Trials.

Mazzaferro is currently in ninth place with a score of 814.50, trailing first-place David Boudia and his 1091.90 points.

Mazzaferro, a native of Cheshire, Conn., is competing in his first Olympic Trials, attempting to earn a spot at the USA Diving Olympic Selection Camp, July 2-6 in Knoxville, Tenn. The top six divers at the conclusion of the meet advance to the selection camp.

“Dan had three exceptional dives tonight, but had some miscues in the middle of his list,” said Auburn head diving coach Jeff Shaffer.

“On the positive side, it was great to see Dan come back from those middle dives and nail his final two.”

Mazzaferro finished the semifinal round with a score of 404.60. Despite the lower scores in the middle of his list, Mazzaferro was able to rebound and finish the round near where he finished in the preliminary round.

“We need to improve, but we are only about 5 points off his score from yesterday,” said Shaffer. “It was a great contest tonight, a lot of 8s and 9s, you really had to play with the big boys.”

Mazzaferro started off with an 80 on his first dive, an armstand back 2 somersault 1.5 twist free, but slipped with a 52.5 on his second dive, a forward 3.5 somersault pike. He slipped further down the board after his third and fourth dives, scoring 52.8 and 51 points, respectively.

But, on his fifth dive, Mazzaferro tied his highest score of the meet with an 81.6 on an inward 3.5 somersault tuck and then beat that score with an 86.7 on his final dive of the night — a back 2.5 somersault 1.5 twist pike.

“I was kind of complacent with how I did tonight, I wasn’t really happy or upset with how I dove,” said Mazzaferro. “I was happy with how I finished, but I know that if I could have hit those middle three dives, I could have gone over 450 tonight.”

With a break of two days before the finals, Mazzaferro said he will take today to rest, but will be right back to work on Saturday preparing to make his final move on Sunday.

“I have a few things I need to focus on before Sunday,” said Mazzaferro. “If I am going to make the selection camp, I’ve got to be ready for the last day.”

Action in the USA Diving Olympic Trials continues Saturday at 3 p.m. with the final round of the men’s and women’s 3-meter springboard. NBC (Channels 12 and 13 in Lee County) will carry coverage beginning at 3:30 p.m., live from the IU Natatorium on the IUPUI campus in Indianapolis, Ind.

Mazzaferro returns to action Sunday with the finals of the platform competition at 2:30 p.m. NBC will carry live coverage from 3-4 p.m., and again from 5-6 p.m.

Fans can follow the action with live scoring at http://www.DiveMeets.com.