The University of Utah men’s and women’s diving teams competed in the Texas Diving Invitational over the weekend, from Thursday, Nov. 13, to Saturday, Nov. 15. The University of Texas, University of Miami, University of North Texas, Stanford, TCU, Texas A&M University, University of Utah and the University of Arizona teams were all invited to the tournament and competed in various diving events all three days. This tournament was the first big meet of the season for the Utes and began the long process towards the NCAA championships in the spring.
Season so far
“This meet is always the best and toughest meet of the regular season, and it’s a great opportunity to challenge ourselves against the best teams in the country,” head diving coach Richard Marschner said before the meet. “With six teams in the meet sitting in the top 20 nationally, it serves as great preparation for the championship season in February and March.”
The Texas Diving Invitational field included six ranked teams in the preseason US PDCA (US Professional Diving Coaches Association) combined poll: No. 1 Texas, No. 5 Miami, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 12 Stanford, No. 19 Arizona and RV (receiving votes) TCU. The poll had the Utah women’s squad ranked at No. 14 and the combined team of men and women at No. 20.
“With this being our first major meet of the season, we’re looking to continue making the corrections we’ve been working on in practice so we have everything locked in later in the season,” Marschner said. “We definitely have the team to compete well and make some noise in this competition, and I think we’ll do that.”
Meet recap
Senior diver Kathryn Grant completed her third top five finish of the weekend on Saturday, placing fifth overall, while Callie Eaglestone finished ninth overall in the women’s finals. In the women’s finals, Grant averaged 49.86 points across her five dives to finish with a 249.30 list score in her first platform competition of the season. Grant was the only woman diver in the field in this tournament to log top five finishes on the 1-meter, 3-meter, and platform.
“Kat showed why she’s one of the nation’s top three event divers as she was the only woman to place in the top five on all three events,” Marschner said. “It was great to hear an opposing coach tell me that ‘she’s diving like a senior’ — meaning she is composed and consistent in her competition.”
In the platform finals, Eaglestone had her best finish on Saturday with a 200.35 list score, which marked her highest score in finals of a competition since placing third on platform at last season’s Big 12 Championships. Annalise Shrader (157.30) and Cierra Cole (142.65) also competed in their first collegiate platform event and are poised to play a significant role in the program’s future.
On the men’s side, sophomore diver Attila Bernatsky paced the Utes with a 280.70 list score, finishing in 13th place, with senior diver Elias Petersen not far behind in 15th place with a 270.50. Junior Alex Just, finished in 17th with a 263.70 list score. “I like what this meet did for us, and it sets us up well to excel at Princeton in a few weeks,” Marschner said.
Overall in the meet, the men’s team placed seventh, the women’s team placed fifth, and combined, the dive team finished sixth. The University of Texas, the No. 1-ranked dive program in the country, finished first.
Quick turnaround
Utah swimming competed this week in Texas at the SMU Invitational in Dallas on Wednesday, Nov. 19. Ute divers compete next on Thursday, Dec. 4, at the Big Al Invitational in Princeton, N.J.
