In their final regular season appearance, the University of Utah men’s and women’s dive teams traveled to Colorado Springs, Colorado to compete in the Air Force Invitational.

This meet featured Brigham Young University, Boise State University, New Mexico State University, University of Wyoming, California Baptist University, Colorado State University, Colorado Mesa University and University of Denver, as well as the host school, the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The two day meet started on Friday with a strong showing from both teams. Tony Chen came away victorious in the men’s three meter with a score of 426.35. Freshman Rylan Little managed to make the finals as well with a score of 320.50, which landed him in sixth place.

Emma Ruchala and Clare Greenlow snagged two of the three highest places for the women’s meet. Ruchala finished second of 33 divers with a score of 544.85, and Greenlow took third with 289.55. Both of them qualified for the finals.

Day two was also a very successful day for the Utes, as three divers showed up and competed at their highest levels.

On the men’s team, Little earned a personal-best score of 325 in the preliminaries, landing him the fifth-best personal score in Utah history. Senior captain Daniel Theriault also saw finals action and his performance put him in eighth place overall.

Ruchala and Greenlow each earned personal bests on the platforms. Greenlow set personal bests in both the prelims and the finals, and she finished in eighth place. Ruchala and senior Makenzie Caufield each competed in the finals for the meet, but neither diver saw a top-ten finish.

“Today was a great way to end the regular season for our divers,” said head coach Richard Marschner. “We had some strong performances in the prelims as Emma, Clare and Rylan all set personal bests and Makenzie just missed her mark. We ran out of gas a bit in the finals but it was great for Rylan to get the win and boost his confidence going into Pac-12 and NCAA Regionals.”

The diving team will be back on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at the Pac-12 Championships in Federal Way, Washington.  

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@CaseyOverfield