Coming off an enormously successful weekend, the UCLA divers
will head east to compete in the Minnesota Diving Invite this
weekend. Coach Tom Stebbins will bring his four most seasoned
divers to have the best shot at a successful outing.
“I chose to bring those with the most competitive
experience,” Stebbins said. “They’re used to the
high level of competition we’ll be seeing.”
Seniors Amanda Blong and Sara Clark and sophomores Marisa
Samaniego and Tess Schofield will represent the Bruins in
Minnesota. Each had a phenomenal performance last weekend against
Arizona State and Arizona.
Clark led the way, winning three out of four possible events.
She posted victories in three-meter competition against both the
Sun Devils and the Wildcats and in the one-meter event against the
Wildcats. The remaining one-meter event was won by Samaniego.
“We’ve proven that we can do the dives,” Clark
said. “We just need to do the same things we’ve been
doing before.”
Samaniego placed in every event last weekend while Schofield
competed in exhibition. Blong came in third place in one-meter
competition against both Arizona and Arizona State and placed
second in the three-meter event. Yet even while these four Bruins
consistently fill out the top three spots, they continue to work to
improve and be competitive in meets such as the Minnesota
Invite.
“We’ve been adding some dives with a higher degree
of difficulty,” Clark said.
The Bruins will face 10 teams, including host school Minnesota
as well as Wisconsin, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Nebraska.
“We’ll be seeing a different level of
competition,” Stebbins said. “We’re going to be
exposed to some teams that we normally don’t see until
NCAAs.”
Perhaps more important than exposing themselves to teams they
will compete against in the future is the Bruins’ opportunity
to compete in Minnesota, the site of the NCAA Championships in
March. The trip will give Blong, Clark, Samaniego and Schofield
valuable experience, and the Bruins will look to these four divers
to make major contributions in the tournament.
“This weekend will definitely help us improve as a
team,” Stebbins said. “We’ll compete, then look
to see what we need to work on and where we need to be at the end
of the year.”