Cougar Divers Shine in BYU Diving Invitational

PROVO -- The BYU Diving Invitational came to a close Saturday as BYU and UNLV competed in the final event, the platform. The Invitational consisted of competition at the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform boards.

"I was pleased with what I saw from both the men and the women," BYU diving coach Keith Russell said. "It is a good opportunity for us to get on the platform because that is not a usual part of dual meets, but we do compete from it during the conference championship."

The 1-meter and 3-meter dive competitions were held on Friday in correlation with the BYU-UNLV Mountain West Conference dual meet, while both teams' divers had the chance to dive from the platform on Saturday.

BYU sophomores Tawni Jones and Ava Jackman took the top two spots in all three events. Jones finished in first from 1-meter with a score of 265.25, and she also notched the best dive from the platform with a score of 200.18. Jackman placed second in both the 1-meter and platform while recording the top score from the 3-meter board at 290.00.

"It was somewhat of a surprise to see how well Tawni did from the platform because we don't really focus on diving from there in our practice routine," Russell said. "I was also impressed with Ava from the platform because she was willing to try dives that she has never done in a competition."

The men's side was close to the same result as the women between Cougars Drew Moulton and Bryce Engstrom. Moulton placed first from 1-meter with a score of 245.70 and tied for the best dive from the platform when he was awarded a 189.90. UNLV's Eli Tanimoto tied Moulton for the top spot from the platform. Engstrom pitched in along with his fellow Cougars as he won the 3-meter contest with a score of 274.05.

The BYU divers will next be in action at the Nike Cup in Long Beach, Calif., on Nov. 15-17.

PLATFORM
Men:
1st (tie)...Eli Tanimoto (UNLV) and Drew Moulton (BYU)...189.90
3rd...Bryce Engstrom (BYU)...170.63
4th...Matt Arb (UNLV)...167.03
5th...Vinny English (UNLV)...154.28
Women:
1st...Tawni Jones (BYU)...200.18
2nd...Ava Jackman (BYU)...195.83
3rd...Wendy Wiliams (UNLV)...194.48
4th...Caitlin Kelly (UNLV)...177.45
5th...Kim Chang (BYU)...175.80
6th...Emily Woods (BYU)...153.30
7th...Holly Malmrose (BYU)...139.58
1-METER
Men:
1st...Drew Moulton (BYU)...245.70
2nd...Bryce Engstrom (BYU)...245.15
3rd...Matt Arb (UNLV)...237.20
4th...Vinny English (UNLV)...217.15
Women:
1st...Tawni Jones (BYU)...265.25
2nd...Ava Jackman (BYU)...264.75
3rd...Wendy Williams (UNLV)...232.15
4th...Emily Woods (BYU)...223.20
5th...Tricia Bowen (BYU)...220.45
6th...Caitlin Kelly (UNLV)...216.65
7th...Kim Chang (BYU)...206.95
8th...Holly Malmrose (BYU)...160.15
3-METER
Men:
1st...Bryce Engstrom (BYU)...274.05
2nd...Vinny English (UNLV)...266.70
3rd...Eli Tanimoto (UNLV)...252.10
4th...Drew Moulton (BYU)...249.45
Women:
1st...Ava Jackman (BYU)...290.00
2nd...Tawni Jones (BYU)...260.10
3rd...Emily Wood (BYU)...257.15
4th...Kim Chang (BYU)...241.45
5th...Wendy Williams (UNLV)...235.20
6th...Caitlin Kelly (UNLV)...226.95