BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Several members of the UCLA women’s diving team placed at the
Georgia Invitational.
By Calley Prezzano
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA women’s dive team performed well this past
weekend at the Georgia Invitational in Athens, but still has room
for improvement. The squad, which has helped lead the women’s
swim team to victories earlier this season, is still developing as
the year goes on.
The meet was a difficult one for the Bruins, simply because of
the timing. Senior Anne Baghramian says that right after vacation,
the team is not at the point to climax right now.
“We were not training to peak at this meet,”
Baghramian said. “We’re training through it.”
Sophomore Regan Gosnell led the team with an eighth-place finish
on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 226.6 points (247.2 in
prelims) and a sixth place with a 444.9 on the 3-meter. Following
right behind in the 3-meter was Baghramian with 434.6 points, a
close seventh place.
Miami’s Katie Beth Bryant won both events with 918.65 in
the 1-meter, and 567.45 in the 3-meter.
On the 1-meter, other top 20 finishers from UCLA included
sophomore Heidi Prosser in 10th (239.45), freshman Kasey Reinhard
in 14th (231.3), freshman Michelle Brown in 16th (223.95) sophomore
Jen McNally in 19th (217.65), and Liz Ackerman in 20th
(209.45).
The 3-meter competition was tight between competitors from all
schools. With the last spots of the top 10 earning anywhere in the
narrow range of 433 to 429 points, Brown finished 10th with 429.5,
Prosser was 13th (420.2) and Reinhard came in 16th place
(395.65).
On the platform, Brown finished sixth (339.85), Baghramian was
seventh (332.7) and McNally squeezed into the eighth place spot
with 321.65 points. Junior Chrissie Amorosia also had a top 20
finish, coming in 12th place with 286.3 points.
One key diver not competing on platform was Gosnell. She
recently had surgery and has only been training for about a month.
Coach Tom Stebbins said it was best to rest Gosnell.
“She could have competed for the top spot,” Stebbins
said.
The goal for the team right now is to qualify divers for the
NCAA Zone E Diving Championships in Federal Way, Wash. This meet,
which takes place March 9-10, is the qualifying meet for the Diving
NCAAs. Once a diver has qualified in one event, she is able to
compete in all three.
Gosnell has already qualified for this meet on the 1- and
3-meter springboard. Teammates Baghramian and Brown have also
qualified in one event each, on the 3-meter and 1-meter,
respectively. At the Georgia Invitational, Prosser missed her cut
by only four points.
“She is on the right path, and will get qualified
soon,” Stebbins said about Prosser, and indicated that the
rest of the team is capable of qualifying as well.
“Things have to be just right,” he added.
For the divers who have already qualified, the motivational
spirit and hard work does not diminish. They are still training
hard to get higher scores at every meet. Baghramian sees the NCAA
Zone E meet as a goal for everyone.
“It is a good focal point,” she said.
The next chance to see the women’s dive team compete will
be Saturday, when the women team up with the swim squad versus
Washington State and UCSD. At this meet, those who have not
qualified for the Zone E meet will get an opportunity to do so.
“It’s a low-stress meet,” Baghramian said.
“That gives the team a great opportunity to
qualify.”
Stebbins is confident with the direction of the team, but knows
that the Bruins need to continue working on technique. At the
Georgia Invitational, when a diver performs a weaker dive, the only
way to recover is to do extremely well on the next one. There are
no dropped dives, each one matters. The squad’s training is
also in the process of being rebuilt after the break, ranging from
a great deal of time in the water to the demanding dryland exercise
that include at least 800 stomach crunches a day.
“The team needs work,” Stebbins said. “We have
a long way to go.”