Minnesota’s Del Angel, UCLA’s Hallaselka Among Top Performers At Bruin Diving Invite

2024 Bruin Diving Invite

• January 12-14, 2024
• Los Angeles, Calif.
• Diving Only
• Results

Courtesy: Minnesota Athletics

DAY 1

MINNEAPOLIS – The University of Minnesota diving team completed day one of the Bruin Diving Invitational on Friday.

The women competed on the 1-meter board while the men took to the 3-meter board on a balmy day in Los Angeles, Calif.

Vivi Del Angel led the way for the ‘U’ with a second-place finish. After placing third in the prelims, her final dive score of 298.65 was enough to push her into second place. Senior Av Osero finished in sixth place behind scores of 268.55 in the prelims and 285.15 in the finals.

Megan Phillip and Addie Albrecht rounded out the Gopher women that advanced to the final 18 competitors. Phillip placed seventh with preliminary and final scores of 278.25 and 266.75, respectively. Albrecht dove to a tenth-place finish behind scores of 256.35 and 262.45.

Both of Minnesota’s divers on the men’s side advanced to the final 18, with both finishing in the top five. YuTong Wang held the top score of 382.50 after the prelims, and his 340.35 in the finals was enough to garner a third-place finish. Drew Bennett placed fifth after a preliminary round score of 337.00 and final score of 345.25.

Day two of the Bruin Diving Invitational continues with the women’s 3-meter and men’s platform dives.

DAY 2 

MINNEAPOLIS – The Gopher diving team wrapped up day two of the Bruin Diving Invitational on Saturday with a pair of top-three finishes, including a victory from Drew Bennett.

Bennett was the lone diver for the Gopher men on the platform. Diving with the highest degree of difficulty of all competitors, Bennett ended the preliminary round in third place with a score of 363.75. However, his final round score of 401.50 in six dives propelled him into first place with a total score of 765.25.

The women had two representatives in the finals for the 3-meter, Vivi Del Angel and Addie Albrecht. Del Angel had scores of 277.35 in the prelims and 340.00 in the finals to claim second overall. Albrecht took 12th-place behind a prelim score of 256.35 and a final score of 278.60.

Day three of the Bruin Diving Invitational continues Sunday with the men’s 1-meter and women’s platform dives.

DAY 3

MINNEAPOLIS – The Minnesota Golden Gophers diving team completed the final day of the Bruin Diving Invitational on Sunday in Los Angeles, Calif.

Sophomore Vivi Del Angel closed out the three-day meet with a victory on the platform. Del Angel went into the finals leading the pack after scoring a 307.10 in the preliminary round. Her score of 303.30 in the finals propelled her into a first-place finish on the final day of the invite.

Senior Megan Phillip finished just outside of the top-12 divers that advanced to the finals. Her score of 207.95 placed her at 14th, just shy of advancement.

The men closed out the meet with both divers finishing in the top ten on the 1-meter. Freshman YuTong Wang placed fifth in the prelims with a score of 328.35. With a score of 384.05 in the finals, Wang was able to secure a second place finish.

After scoring a 278.95 in the preliminary round, sophomore Drew Bennett improved in the finals. His score of 348.55 in the finals was enough to boost him into the top-10, finishing in eighth place.

The Minnesota swimming and diving teams will be back in action on Jan. 19 at the Pittsburgh dual meet.

Courtesy: UCLA Athletics

­­LOS ANGELES – Freshman Lauren Hallaselkä and junior Zoe Jespersgaard both recorded top-five individual finishes to lead UCLA at the 2023 Bruin Diving Invitational, which ran from Friday through Sunday at Spieker Aquatics Center.

Hallaselkä took first in the 3-meter championship, while Jespersgaard earned a third-place finish in the 3-meter championship on Saturday.

Overall, UCLA placed eighth in Friday’s team event, with the trio of Maya Shtolzberg, Laura Fisher, and Molly Brascia combining to score 250.15 points. USC (329.60) won the team event.

Earlier on Friday, Hallaselkä and Jespersgaard each had a strong showing in the one-meter competition. The duo both easily qualified for finals in the event after placing fourth and sixth, respectively, in prelims. Jespersgaard then scored 291.05 in the finals to solidify fourth place in the competition. Hallaselkä finished right behind her in finals, scoring 284.25 points to place fifth overall in the event.

As for Saturday, the Bruins dominated the three-meter championship. Fresh off a fourth and fifth-place showing in the one-meter a day ago, Hallaselkä was the class of the field throughout, scoring a 310.20 in prelims before recording a season-best score in the finals. The freshman from Helsinki, Finland took the finals by storm, scoring 365.10 in the finals, and won the event by over 50 points. Jespersgaard also did well throughout the competition, finishing on the podium and placing third with a score of 610.85.

The Bruins only had one athlete in action on Sunday in the platform dive event in Laura Fisher. The  Altadena, California native performed well for the Bruins, making it to the finals of the event, before placing sixth overall with a score of 445.00 points.

The UCLA swim and dive team is next in action in two weeks, facing Stanford at the Spieker Aquatic Center in a Pac-12 dual meet on February 2. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. PT.