BYU Men Dominate Another Invite
PROVO -- Once again the BYU Men swept a diverse diving invite, this time their own. After sweeping the USC Invite early in the month of November against the likes of Stanford, the BYU diving team once again showed what head coach Keith Russell calls, "The best diving team ever assembled in BYU history."
All-American Justin Wilcock led the way, winning both the 1-meter and 3-meter events over many of his own teammates. He scored a 338.55 in the 1-meter, just three points higher than freshman teammate Andy Bradley. Bradley was followed by only three points by teammate Aaron Russell in third. Senior Viraj Patil was fourth as BYU scored five out of the first six spots.
"I did much better Friday afternoon in the 1-meter finals than in the preliminaries", said Wilcock. "I did well in the 3-meter which is my stronger event and look to make it the the NCAAs again."
Wilcock won the 3-meter final with a score of 373.5, a 35 point margin of victory over second place teammate Bradley. Russell finished third while sophomore Justin Beardall dove to a fourth place finish. Again, five out of the first six spots go to the Cougars.
Russell won the platform event with a a score of 216.85. Oscar Delgado from Wyoming came in second place. BYU placed third through six with Wilcock, Beardall, Bradley, and Patil, respectively.
On the women's side, five-time MWC diver of the week Kelli Einfeldt won the 3-meter final with a score of 443.5. She was followed by Becca Barras and Tracey Berghian from the University of New Mexico. Berghian won the platform event with a score of 190.45 with Einfedlt coming in fourth.
"The 3-meter felt awesome", said Einfeldt. "I'm becoming more consistent all-around and am enjoying this season. I want to make it to the NCAAs."
Kate Oiness of Nevada won the 1-meter event followed by Barras of New Mexico. Einfeldt finished sixth with teammate Tessa Clark coming in 10th place.
"I felt that our divers did very well overall", said coach Russell. "I also felt we learned much - maybe too much. It was a great look-see for our Conference Championships."
