Texas A&M Turns in 5 Wins at Air Force Diving Invitational

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV divers turned in a successful weekend at the Air Force Invitational this weekend on the campus of the Air Force Academy. The two-day invitational was held on Feb. 5 and 6.

Leading the way for UNLV was men’s diver Lucas James, with a pair of sixth-place finishes, After placing fourth in the preliminaries with a score of 333, which is a NCAA Zone qualifying score, James would finish sixth overall after scoring 310.60 in the finals. He added a sixth-place score on the platform as well, 291.25. On the 3-meter, James scored 286.55 to place 11th.

Luke did great finishing 6th in both his events,” said UNLV Diving coach Derek Starks. “He’s setting himself up very well for conferences and zones.”

The first event on the women’s side was the 1-meter. Alyssa Arnett paced the Rebels, placing seventh in the preliminaries out of 49 with 262.25 points. In the finals she finished ninth with the score of 241.40. Michele Serra finished 16th with 236.60 points followed by freshman Shelby Steiger (19th, 236.00), sophomore Mykayla Fielding  (24th, 225.50) and freshman Chrysoula Gatsios (39th, 198.95).

On the women’s platform. Serra was the highest finisher placing 14th out of 41 women 194.70 points. Arnett posted a season best score of 187.85 to place 19th. It was the first collegiate platform appearance for Steiger, Fielding and Gatsios who placed 35th (152.85), 37th (147.50) and 39th (141.05) respectively. Serra was also the highest scorer on the 3-meter as well, turning in a score of 256.20 to place 12th overall. Fielding was 22nd with a score of 238.35, while Steiger was 35th (216.75) and Gatsios placed 43rd (196.90).

“I think everyone did very well for themselves this weekend,” said Starks. “Our women have especially made gains, if this were last year’s conference, three of our women would’ve been in the top 16 to score team points on 1 meter, two on platform. I am very proud of how they handled themselves as competitors today and more confident in the dives we’ve chosen for these last few meets.

“I’m very proud of Michele for making the finals in her event and making a season best for herself, she is also posing to do well at conferences. Myka made an amazing comeback after some tough misses, we know exactly what we need to train to do much better next week. I had to withdraw Alyssa due to an injury, but she’s already qualified to zones so the rest was more beneficial than pushing through. Chrysoula and Shelby both did well for themselves, both performing fairly new dives and doing them well for as long as they’ve been doing them. I’m very excited to see how they perform at conferences in the upcoming weeks.”

The next action for the UNLV divers will be at the Mountain West Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, held Feb. 17-20 in College Station, Texas. James will compete in the WAC Championships on Feb. 24-27 in Houston, Texas.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Texas A&M men’s and women’s diving teams combined to post five individual victories at the Air Force Diving Invitational this weekend in the final tune-up before the Southeastern Conference Championships.

Junior Madison Hudkins and freshman Sam Thornton swept the women’s and men’s springboard events, respectively, and freshman Alais Kalonji tallied her first collegiate individual victory in the women’s platform dive.

Hudkins won the women’s one-meter board with a score of 310.50 and grabbed the win on the three-meter with a score of 343.05. Kalonji took the platform win with a score of 284.20. Sophomore Zoe Alaniz was sixth in the one-meter (268.45), while Kalonji took sixth in the three-meter (272.70).

On the men’s side, Thornton scored 415.00 to win the three-meter and 345.65 for the victory in the one-meter. Also placing well were freshman Skylar Lake, who was third in the one-meter (312.25) and seventh in the three-meter (315.00), and junior Colton Haffey, who was sixth in the three-meter (348.10).

Both Texas A&M swimming and diving squads will compete next at the SEC Championships in Columbia, Mo., Feb. 16-20.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – San Diego State divers captured a top 10 finish on each board as action at the Air Force Diving Invitational in Colorado Springs concluded on Saturday. Three of the Aztecs’ four divers finished in the top half of the field in all three events while a fourth was in the top half of two on the three boards.

Athletes from a dozen schools competed during the two-day Invitational that served as SDSU’s final competition prior to the 2016 Mountain west Championships later this month. In addition to San Diego State and host Air Force, other schools represented during the meet included Texas A&M, Wyoming, Boise State, UNLV, Colorado State, Brigham Young, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Utah and Northern Colorado.

On Friday, sophomore Alexandra Caplan led the Aztecs with a third-place finish on the 1-meter springboard. After posting a score of 283.55 in the prelims that saw her finish in second place (of 49 competitors), Caplan turned in a mark of 278.90 in the 12-diver final round.

SDSU’s other participants included Nicole Dutton (14th place – 240.15), Payton Gabris (21st – 232.90) and Makena Chamoures (22nd – 231.75). Texas A&M’s Madison Hudkins won the event with a score of 310.50.

On the platform on Friday, Chamoures was the Aztecs’ top finisher as she placed fourth with a mark of 210.05. Her score was the highest turned in by an SDSU diver this season. Alais Kalonji of Texas A&M was the platform diving winner with a score of 284.20.

Also competing on the platform for San Diego State were Gabris (11th – 199.35), Dutton (17th – 190.00) and Caplan (20th – 187.45). A total of 41 divers took part in the event.

In Saturday’s 3-meter board competition, Caplan again advanced to the finals where she placed eighth with a score of 285.05. Her mark of 296.55 in the prelims put her fifth of the 49 competitors heading into the final. Hudkins captured the title in the 3-metert board with a mark of 362.20.

SDSU’s Chamoures ended up in 13th place and missed advancing to the final by just 0.35 point. Dutton placed 16th (245.50) while Gabris finished 26th (235.35).

The Aztec swimming and diving team will now prepare for the annual Mountain West Championships scheduled to take place Feb. 17-20 at the Rec Center Natatorium at Texas A&M in College Station, Texas.

Boise State:

3-Meter Prelims Results | 3-Meter Finals Results

USAFA, Colo. – Sophomore Kacee Olson paced the Bronco divers Saturday with a sixth-place finish on 3-meter at the AFA Diving Invitational.

The meet served as the diving contingent’s final tune-up for the Mountain West Swimming and Diving Championships, set for Feb. 17-20 (Wed.-Sat.) at the Texas A&M Natatorium in College Station, Texas.

Olson qualified 11th with a score of 253.65 then improved to sixth in the 12-diver finals, finishing with a score of 287.30. In qualifying, freshman Cassidy Bose was 19th (240.90), junior Karli Kriewall 27th (234.35) and junior Kiley Carlson 38th (214.70).

Friday, Olson (fifth) and Kriewall (11th) both reached the finals on 1-meter, while on platform Bose topped the Broncos with a 15th-place finish.

Wyoming:

Results

The University of Wyoming divers opened competition Friday at the Air Force Diving Invitational inside the Cadet Natatorium in Colorado Springs, and finished the two-day event this afternoon. The invite featured 73 divers from 12 different teams.

Of the 11 women’s teams at the invitational, the Cowgirls finished in first place with 101 total points, the Pokes finished in fifth of the seven men’s teams that competed with 57 total points. As a team, Wyoming finished in fourth place of the 12 total teams.

To get things started for UW on Friday, senior Kari Campbell took second place in the women’s 1-meter competition with a score of 282.25. She was just shy of her season-best score of 286.80 against Denver on Jan. 9.

Sophomore Keely Bishop placed eighth (249.40) on the 1-meter event, while junior Lauren Puglisi tied for ninth with a score of 241.40. Campbell also took third (214.20) on the platform to lead the Cowgirls. It became the top-finish for UW in the platform event this season.

“I thought it was a good weekend for us,” UW head diving coach Kyle Bogner said. “It was nice to have a final tune-up moving forward into the conference championships next week. There were a few of our divers that stepped up and competed very well against other divers in our conference.”

Also on the platform, Bishop finished sixth (206.35), and Puglisi recorded a score of 186.20 for 21st, while freshmenPeyton GrandPre (158.85) finished the event in 31st, CeeJay Harris finished with a score of 141.75 and Chynna Randallscored a 120.15.

“The competition was strong for both the men and women this weekend,” Bogner added. “We knew it would be a challenge for us, as there were teams that have been diving very well all year. I liked the way we finished up against that tough competition and we are looking forward to the conference meets.”

Junior Jacob Rehmeier and sophomore Austin Rettinghousewere the only two Cowboys competing at the invitational. Rehmeier finished ninth on the 3-meter event for the Pokes, while Rettinghouse had a score of 263.35 in the prelims. Rehmeier’s 3-meter score of 302.30 was his best all season.

On the men’s platform, Rettinghouse and Rehmeier finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Rettinghouse recorded a score of 270.95, while Rehmeier posted a 247.00. Rettinghouse also made the final in the 1-meter competition, as he finished in seventh place (298.50).

Campbell posted another top-three finish in the women’s 3-meter final. She recorded a score of 306.50 to once again lead the Cowgirls.

The Cowgirls return to action in College Station, Texas, at the Mountain West Championships on Feb. 17-20, as the Pokes are off until the Western Athletic Conference Championships on Feb. 24-27. The WAC Championships will be held in Houston, Texas.

Utah:

Colorado Springs, Colo.- Jacob Crayne took first on the platform event during the final day of competition at the Air Force Diving Invitational.Amanda Casillas earned Utah’s highest finish on the women’s side, placing second on three-meter.

Crayne took home the win on platform with a score of 339.15. Daniel Theriault was third in the event (303.00), while Connor Cain also finished in the top 10 for the Utes with a score of 240.30.

Crayne also finished fifth on the one-meter with a total score of 318.15. Cain took 12th (240.20).

Back on the women’s side, Casillas took second on three-meter during the final day. She finished with a score of 312.00. Lauren Hall took ninth (278.70) in a field that included 52 participants.

The Utes have their respective Senior Days coming up with the women hosting Washington State on Feb. 13 and the men welcoming USC on Feb. 20.

New Mexico State:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – NM State Diving wrapped up the regular season at the Air Force Invitational on Saturday.

“The freshmen really stepped up in this meet with MacKinna Hauff being our top finisher on both 1m and 3m and reaching the final in the 3m event,” said assistant coach Andy Goe. “Raina Brommer had another strong tower performance, like she did in Arizona, and was our top tower finisher. It is great to see all the divers stepping up for this meet and preparing themselves to be in a position to score when we head to WAC later this month, but the freshmen in particular are looking very strong.”

The meet spanned two days with the 1-meter and platform dives on Friday and the 3-meter dive on Saturday.

In the 1-meter dive, freshman Mackinna Hauff finished 15th in a field of 49 divers, with a score of 238.4. Senior Lauren Reifel finished 20th with a score of 235.85, freshman Raina Brommer finished 31st with a score of 213.1 and sophomore finished 34th with a score of 212.45.

In the platform dive, Raina Brommer lead the Aggies finished 18th in a field of 41 divers, with a score of 185.05. Abby Watson finished 24th with a score of 174.85 and MacKinna Hauff finished 28th with a score of 164.25.

In the 3-meter dive on Saturday, MacKinna Hauff lead the Aggies finishing 11th in a field of 49 divers, with a score of 268.2. Lauren Reifel finished 14th with a score of 251.45, Raina Brommer finished 15th with a score of 246.6 and Abby Watson finished 48th with a score of 155.2.

The Aggies are back in action on Feb. 24 as they travel to Houston, Texas for the WAC Championships.