The men’s & women’s diving teams continued to show immense improvement and skill as they hosted a tri-meet this past Saturday at the Gerald Ratner Athletics Center. Out of the four possible matchups amongst the men and women’s team combined, the Maroons claimed victory in three of them. The men’s squad defeated Lewis 162–117, but lost to Olivet Nazarene 149–129. On the women’s side, though, the Maroons came out victorious against Lewis 186–108 and Olivet Nazarene 164–133. The home team dominated in the diving sector of the meet, pulling through with a full sweep. With determination and willpower, each athlete displayed the talent the team has developed over the past few grueling months of work.
Second-year Dean Boures obtained a 245.03 for the one-meter dive and a 274.58 for the three-meter dive. The women achieved wins from second-year Natalie DeMuro, who got a score of 270.08 on the one-meter board, and first-year Anna Girlich, who ended with a 276.45 on the three-meter board. Both divers recorded NCAA provisional scores and have landed a position in NCAA Zones.
The women made their mark indeed as they finished with seven total event victories. Third-year Maya Scheidl finished with multiple victories as she finished first in the 100-yard freestyle. She also played a vital role in the success of the top-placing 400-yard freestyle relay team, which also consisted of first-year Cecile Kurman-Browning, first-year Hannah Eastman and fourth-year Karen Chu.
When asked about her team’s performance against Olivet Nazarene and Lewis University, third-year Emily Hunt said, “We were coming back from break looking to brush off the cobwebs, we were excited to start the new year off with a hot start.”
On the other hand, the Maroon men came away with six victories to close out the meet. Second-year Thomas Meek contributed to half of the wins for the day as he won the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and made significant strides as a part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team. Third-year Kevin Ku also made his mark as he took claim of the victory in the 200-yard butterfly.
As the season comes closer to the end, one meet at a time, the team acknowledges the importance of continued hard work and the necessity of maintaining an edge through the end of the season.
The Maroons look to continue to their extreme depth and talent this upcoming Saturday. Their meet begins at 1 p.m. against the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
