UT diving earned its second victory in as many days, thanks to Mauricio Robles' 40-point victory in the three-meter competition to round out Sunday's action at the Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville.
Both male Vol divers nearly made the finals of the three-meter competition, led by Mauricio Robles, who once again took control over the rest of the field once finals began, scoring a 405.40 to win his second event in two days, the fourth time he has broken the 400-point barrier this season.
Teammate Michael Howell missed out on the finals by nearly four points, finishing in 13th place.
On the women's side of the competition, lone UT diver Samantha Lera pulled out of the one-meter competition after sustaining a foot injury after her first dive.
"Unfortunately, Samantha was looking really good. She incurred a foot injury when she got off the side of the board on her first dive and we're waiting for results," Tennessee diving coach Dave Parrington said. "Hopefully, we'll have some positive results tomorrow from the MRI."
Robles qualified for the finals after scoring a 364.65 in the preliminary rounds, finishing in fourth place. Similar to Saturday's diving in the one-meter competition, Robles fell out of the top portion during the second and third rounds, but bounced back in the final three rounds to secure his place in the finals.
Once the field was trimmed to 12 divers, the redshirt junior took control by jumping out to a quick lead and maintained a consistent high-scoring pace en route to the victory. Robles scored in the 70-point range three different times, including his final two dives, to expand his winning margin of victory to almost 41 points over second place Fraser McKean of Auburn University.
McKean, SMU's Devin Burnett and Georgia's Ian Forlini rounded out the top four spots, the same three to finish behind Robles in the one-meter competition Saturday. Michael Howell just missed out on a spot in the three-meter finals after finishing in 13th place with a score of 276.80. SMU's Dan Pitts, who earned 12th place in the prelims, finished nearly four points ahead of the Hixson, Tenn., sophomore.
"(Mauricio) was a little bit off the mark in prelims; he's not going to be able to play that game when we get to bigger meets, so he's going to have to get a little more sharp in prelims," said Parrington. "In the final, he stepped up and won pretty comfortably and I was very pleased with the win.
"There were a lot more positive, competitive attitude today than yesterday. He was only four points out of making the final, but a lot more positive than negative for (Howell). I was pleased overall with his performance and his competitive mindset."
The three-day invitational will conclude Monday at 10:30 a.m. when the diving heads to the 10-meter platform. The women will begin in the morning and the men will take to the tower immediately following the women's action. Admission is free.
Georgia
Georgia freshman Ian Forlini continued to perform well in the Tennessee Diving Invitational as he placed fourth on the 3-meter springboard on Sunday.
Third on the 1-meter board on Saturday, Forlini rolled up 351.55 points in the 12-man final on 3-meter Sunday. He stood eighth after prelims with 316.95 points.
Crawford Berry placed 14th with 276.05 points, followed by Walker Wheeler in 16th with 243.15 and Bobby Chambless in 20th with 222.15.
In the women's 1-meter competition, Darcie O'Brien paced the Lady Bulldogs as she came in 14th with 249.25 points. Elizabeth Ann Kirkland was 20th with 233.85, while Olivia Ball took 23rd with 228.95 and Kelly Thatcher rolled up 193.45 for 38th.
Kentucky
Senior Christa Cabot placed third on 1-meter as the Kentucky diving team placed three in the top nine and all three women divers advanced to the finals for the second consecutive day at the Tennessee Diving Invitational.
Cabot, who placed ninth on 3-meter on Saturday’s first day of completion, was joined in the 1-meter finals Sunday by fellow senior Lindsay Keahey and redshirt sophomore Rebecca Hamperian, who finished seventh and eighth, respectively.
“The women did a great job again today,” UK head diving coach Ted Hautau said. “Christa stayed consistent and was mentally tough throughout. Lindsay had two standout performances and was rock solid and hit all of her dives in the prelims before hitting even better in the finals. It was a great performance by the senior.”
Cabot recorded a 301.15 in the finals, one of just three divers to record over 300 points. The senior advanced to the finals with a 299.25 in the prelims, the top score in the field of 44 competitors.
Keahey, who finished eighth on 3-meter Saturday, earned a seventh-place finish on 1-meter Sunday. The senior scored a 276.10 in the finals after a 264.74 in the prelims. Hamperian backed up a runner-up finish on 3-meter yesterday with a 258.25 on 1-meter to place eighth overall. Hamperian scored a 293.20 in the prelims, the second-highest score.
For the UK men, senior Noah Richter led the Wildcats with a 238.80 on 3-meter to finish 18th. Freshman Levi Lindsey finished 22nd with a 204.55, while fellow freshman Stephen Jou was 24th with a 194.90.
LSU
Senior Alex Bettridge finished with a score of 305.70 to finish second in the women’s one-meter final Sunday afternoon at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
“We dove really well across the board today,” LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “Some of the progress I’ve been asking for has come through. We’ve moved past the rocky things and we competed really well. I’m looking forward to platform tomorrow, which should be a really good day for us.”
Junior Cassie Weil also reached the final and finished in fourth place with a score of 291.85. Junior Allie Alter just missed the final with a prelim finish of 13th and a score of 251. Madison Sthamann also finished 22nd (231.35) and Katie Lagarde finished 24th (225.40).
For the men, Daniel Helm finished sixth with a score of 340.70 and Andrew Suchla finished seventh with a score of 332.55 on three-meter.
N.C. State
Gabi McDermott, Harrison Mitchell and Rachel Mumma represented the NC State swimming and diving team Sunday at the Tennessee Diving Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn., inside the Allan Jones Aquatic center.
Radman’s Recap
“Today was a pretty steady day for the team as a whole. Harry and Gabi are continuing to make improvements in the right direction.
“Rachel’s performance today showed that she can hang with the best of them- looking ahead for the end of the season though we just need to instill a little bit more of a competitive edge in her.”- Yahya Radman, head diving coach
Springboard Action
Mumma finished fifth out of 44 divers in the women’s one-meter competition with a six-dive total of 287.00, after posting a score of 283.15 in the preliminary round of the event.
Mitchell finished 21st in the men’s three-meter competition with a six-dive total of 208.50, while McDermott finished 36th in the one-meter competition with a score of 193.50.
Richmond
Richmond divers finished off their participation in the Tennessee Diving Invitational Sunday, with sophomore Irina Chiulli (Westwood, Massachusetts) landing 17th out of 44 divers in the 1m springboard.
Chiulli posted a score of 237.85, less than 20 points from a spot in the finals against the top talent in the meet. The score was less than a point from her total in the 1m at the A-10 Championships last season, which did qualify her for a spot in those finals.
“Today was a good day,” said Richmond head diving coach Sean Letsinger.
“We have identified a few specific areas that we need to improve on for future meets, but overall I feel good about our performance today. The divers represented Richmond well this weekend and I am very proud of the way they competed.”
Freshman Laura Rokop (Carmel, Indiana) finished 29th, turning in a score of 212.30 through her six preliminary dives.
Sophomore Mikaela Gekas-Robinson (Woodbury, New Jersey) posted a score of 171.20 Sunday, almost three points better than her preliminary score at the A-10 Championships last February.
