Day 1 of the Wildcat Diving Invitational concluded with Arizona sweeping the podium in the 3 meter as Samantha Pickens took first followed by Michal Bower and Sally Hackett. On the men’s side, Rafael Quintero finished first while Dominic Ricotta and Carter Craft took third and fourth, respectively.
On Day 2 of the invitational, the Wildcats swept the podium yet again, both on the men and women’s side. The women’s 1 meter consisted of 38 divers. The same women took the top three spots as Day 1. Samantha Pickens finished first with a final score of 331.45. Sally Hackett took second with 283.45 followed by Michal Bower in third with 279.35.
Paige Hunt finished fourth with a score of 251.35 and Lauren Reifel from NMSU placed fifth with 248.45.
The women’s consolation final was won by Karli Kriewall from Boise State University (244.85). Mackenzie Rands from Brigham Young University finished second with 233.80 followed by Lucy Lafranchise from Cal with 230.50.
For the men, eight divers competed. Dominic Ricotta took the top spot with a score of 376.55. Rafael Quintero finished in second with 375.95, only 0.6 behind his teammate. Carter Craft took third with 329.70 allowing the Wildcats to sweep the podium.
In fourth and fifth place were Brigham Young’s Kevin Dreesen with 318.00 and Nathan Gonzales with 290.95, respectively.
The Wildcat Diving Invitational will conclude tomorrow starting at 11:00 a.m. MST at Hillenbrand Aquatic Center.
New Mexico
The Lobo swimmers wrapped up competition for this week but the divers are not done just yet. They continued in the second day of the Wildcat Diving Invitational with the 1-meter championships.
Kayla Taylor, a native from New Mexico, competed in the springboard events and finished for 35th place after receiving a total score of 168.50 points.
The divers will continue with the platform event tomorrow which will also conclude competition at the Wildcat Diving Invitational.
UNM’s swimming and diving team will reunify in official meets again for another three-day event at the UNLV Invitational in Las Vegas, Nev. on Saturday, Dec. 13. ?
