Courtesy: Wyoming Athletics
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Feb. 4, 2021) – The Cowgirl and Cowboy diving squads opened up its first of three days of competition on Thursday at the Air Force Diving Invite. The men competed in the 1-meter while the women started off in the 3-meter.
“It was a good morning session with two women and two men qualifying for the finals,” head diving coach Ted Everett said. “The men’s field was really good and I was wondering who was going to step up to try and reach the finals. Juan answered the call and earned his first ever zone qualifying score. Elijah dove very consistent and put himself in the finals.”
For the Cowgirls, sophomore Melissa Mirafuentes led all divers in first with a season-best score of 326.65 in the preliminaries to place first. Junior McKenna Houlihan had a solid seventh place finish with a six dive score of 244.35. Senior Abigail Zoromski finished her prelim round with a season-best score of 229.40 while Makena Sanger had a total of 186.70.In the consolation final, Zoromski recorded a total of 227.45 to place fifth and 13th overall.
In the finals, Mirafuentes continued her strong performance with a first place finish with a six dive total score 319.70. Houlihan improved two spots up to fifth with a total score of 239.10.
“It was a good first day of competition. The meet format is identical to what we will be doing at the conference championships and is a great way to prepare. Melissa was excellent winning the 3-meter and the best part is she still has room to improve. McKenna (Houlihan) was steady and is improving every time out.”
On the men’s side, freshman Juan Gonzalez finished fifth in the preliminaries with a career-best and a NCAA Zone “E” qualifying score of 310.15 to move on. Senior Elijah Chan completed his dives in a score of 251.85 to place ninth. After a scratch, he would also make the finals. Junior Brendan Byrnes scored 242.60 and reached the consolation finals where he would finish first with a mark of 296.90. Sophomore Payton Lee was the final Cowboy in action as he placed 13th with a score of 238.20. He finished seventh in the consolation final with a six dive total of 241.25.
For the Cowboys, Gonzalez moved up one spot to fourth place after a six dive total of 295.45. Chan finished eighth in the finals with a score of 256.70.
“Juan made his first night time final and while he was a little nervous, he hit 11 out of 12 dives. The whole team is really coming together as I was hoping, but it was the first day. I’m looking for them to come out with the same energy and focus the next two days.”
The Cowboys will be competing tomorrow in the 3-meter while the women are in action on the 1-meter. The meet is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. MT at the Cadet Natatorium in Colorado Springs.