nullAbby Shelton/BYU

Strong finals, personal bests highlight BYU's dive team at Air Force

dive,byu women's diving,byu men's diving

Carly Ludlow

February 02, 09:19 AM February 02, 09:23 AM

BYUs mens and womens diving teams delivered a dominant performance at the Air Force Invite this weekend, Jan. 29 to Jan. 31 at the Cadet Natatorium in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The three-day, dive-only meet featured 10 programs and marked the Cougars second diving competition of the season. BYU entered the weekend riding momentum from a home meet against Air Force and Colorado Mesa.

Sophomore Mart Llop led BYU on the opening day with a second-place finish in the mens 3-meter event. He scored 368.80 in preliminaries before posting a collegiate personal-best 378.85 in finals with an 18.50 degree of difficulty.

Freshman Ashton Sparks placed 10th in prelims with a score of 290.05 before finishing 12th in finals at 260.85 on a 19.00 degree of difficulty. Freshman Elijah Baker finished 18th with a score of 249.35 on a 16.50 degree of difficulty.

On the womens side, freshman Brooklyn Goeckeritz led the Cougars with a fifth-place finish in the 1-meter event. She scored 249.30 in prelims and improved to 252.60 in finals on a 14.40 degree of difficulty.

Sophomore Aubryn Ordyna finished 17th with a score of 215.10, while senior Sophia DeBergh placed 21st at 210.05. Freshman Betty Martin finished 28th with a score of 196.05.

The Cougars returned Friday with four divers finishing in the top five.

Llop placed third in the mens 1-meter event in both prelims and finals, scoring 310.65 in prelims and 310.80 in finals with a 16.60 degree of difficulty. Sparks followed with a 269.55 in prelims and a 290.05 in finals on a 17.90 degree of difficulty.

Baker placed 19th, scoring 269.55 in prelims and 290.05 in finals, marking a collegiate personal best for him in the 1-meter event.

In the womens 3-meter event, DeBergh led BYU with a 262.40 in prelims on a 15.60 degree of difficulty before earning a collegiate personal-best 280.85 in finals. Goeckeritz placed fifth, scoring 258.45 in prelims and 279.65 in finals, also setting a collegiate personal best.

Martin and Ordyna finished 20th and 21st, respectively.

BYU closed the meet with strong performances in the platform events.

Llop claimed second place in the mens platform, scoring 307.10 in prelims and improving to 362.70 in finals. His finish ranks No. 4 in BYU program history for the event. Sparks placed fourth with scores of 293.95 in prelims and 314.05 in finals, while Baker finished 16th.

Goeckeritz led the women with a third-place finish in the platform event, scoring 224.50 in prelims and 225.60 in finals on a 12.10 overall degree of difficulty. Ordyna placed 11th, scoring 207.75 in prelims and 198.90 in finals with a 12.30 degree of difficulty. DeBergh narrowly missed the cut for the finals and finished 13th.

The BYU swim and dive team will look to carry the momentum into its rivalry meet against the University of Utah on Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. MST at the Richards Building pool in Provo.

nullDaily Universe Sports

Relays, records and results: BYU swim and dive teams dominate home meet

byu men's swimming,byu women's swimming,byu men's diving,byu women's diving,byu swim and dive

Kiara Xanthos

January 25, 06:40 PM January 25, 07:03 PM

Relay dominance and record-breaking performances powered the BYU mens and womens swim and dive teams as they closed a two-day home meet Saturday at the Stephen L. Richards Building Pool against the United States Air Force Academy and Colorado Mesa University.

After building an early advantage on Friday, the Cougars used Saturdays session to reinforce their control of the meet through depth across events and consistent performances in both swimming and diving.

BYU made an immediate impact in the 400 medley relays to open the session. The womens A relay Emma Marusakova, Lucy Warnick, Sarah Eliason and Tatum Cooley finished first in 3:40.23, breaking the pool record by more than six seconds.

The men followed with another winning performance from Tanner Edwards, Peter Etzold, Jacob Aina and Max Kleinman, posting a time of 3:10.42 to set another pool record and extend BYUs strong relay showing throughout the meet.

Middle-distance and distance events produced several standout finishes for the Cougars. Lucy Warnick led a one-two finish in the womens 200 individual medley, with Brinley Knoll close behind in second, while Emma Marusakova claimed first place in the 200 backstroke. On the mens side, Tanner Nelson won the 200 freestyle, and Darwin Anderson added a victory in the 1650 freestyle.

Victoria Schreiber added another pool record for the Cougars, winning the womens 200 freestyle in 1:48.66, with Haylee Tiffany finishing close behind in second.

Sprint events continued to highlight BYUs depth. In the womens 50 freestyle, the Cougars swept the top four spots, led by Tatum Cooleys winning time of 22.99.

Max Kleinman added to BYUs sprint success on the mens side by taking first place in the 50 freestyle.

Relay racing again shaped the closing stretch of the meet. The BYU womens A team of Taylor Bennett, Sophie Scoville, Lily Flint and Cooley won the 200 freestyle relay, setting both a new team record and a new pool record.

The mens A relay Max Kleinman, Tanner Nelson, Joshua Reed and Payton Plumb matched the performance with another pool-record swim, while BYUs B relays on both the mens and womens sides also placed among the top finishers.

The Cougars also picked up key points on the diving boards. Marti Llop delivered a decisive performance in the mens 3-meter diving event, winning by more than 40 points, as BYU divers contributed important scoring depth on both sides of the competition.

BYU swimmers and divers combined for multiple event wins and relay victories to close the home meet as the team looks ahead to the remainder of the season, including an upcoming rivalry meet against the University of Utah.

The meet is expected to draw national attention with the presence of Kyle Sockwell, who is traveling the country as part of his Dual Meet Tour highlighting high-level collegiate swimming.