By Danielle Repper, Swimming World College Intern
Pac-12– the Conference of Champions! This past weekend at the Bruin Invitational was a great showcase for remainder of the season for UCLA, USC, Cal, and Utah.
The Bruins marked their territory by bleeding blue and gold at home in all three events. Annika Lenz, junior diver for the Bruins, dominated the women’s platform event with a combined prelim and final score of 600.20, while freshman, Eloise Belanger came in third with a total of 499.45.
“I am really happy about my performance this weekend,” expressed Lenz. “When I am relaxed, having fun with my teammates, and not overthinking, I perform my best. Also, I have been working really hard in practice, so I think some of the work paid off. I think the Pac-12 has some great divers on both platform and springboard from many different schools. Especially since it is Olympic year I think many of the divers are training extra hard, which will definitely step up the level of competition,” she added.
Madison Witt, freshman diver for the University of Southern California, came in second place to Lenz in the platform event. Witt was consistent throughout prelims and finals, and looks strong going forward.
“I feel really great about my performance this weekend. I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the meet but I just made sure to have fun and focus on key corrections that I’ve been working on fixing in practice,” shared Witt. “There’s definitely some tough competition within the Pac-12 Conference but I am really looking forward to future meets. I love competing and when the competition is challenging it makes it that much more exciting,” she added.
Annika Lenz of UCLA. Photo Courtesy: Matthew S. DeMaria
Junior diver, Amanda Casillas, from the University of Utah had a strong performance throughout the weekend. She came in fourth place in the platform event with a total score of 483.05.
“I am very happy with how I dived this weekend. At this point in the season I am just enjoying competing and focusing on my technique; not worrying too much about the results. There is a high level of competition in the Pac-12 this season. All of the schools have very strong teams this year and it is exciting to get to compete against them and see all of the teams so successful. Leading up to Pac-12 championships I am looking forward to enjoying more competitions with my team, we have been working extremely hard and I can’t wait to see it all pay off!” shared Casillas.
In the women’s three-meter event, the Bruins went 1, 2, & 3 with sophomore Maria Polyakova in first with 639.95, Belanger in second with 625.05, and Lenz in 3rd with 615.55.
“I think I did pretty well, I showed some really good dives and was also consistent. I am going to keep working on my dives and very excited to see where this year can take me!” expressed Polyakova.
In the women’s one-meter event, Polyakova took the gold, scoring a combined total of 633.05 in prelims and finals. Coming in second was Belanger with 604.20 and in third place was Berkeley freshman, Phoebe Lamay, scoring 580.70.
“Overall I felt like this past weekend went pretty well,” shared Lamay. “I was very pleased with my performance on one meter. As for three meter, I need to clean up the smaller details before Pac-12 championships. For this meet, I tried to focus on being more in the moment and taking one dive at a time. It will be my first collegiate experience and I am looking forward to competing along side the swimmers in dual and championship meets. I am also looking forward to witnessing my progression in the sport and possibly learn a new dive. I am excited to cheer on the other golden bears that I happily call my team mates,” she added.
On the men’s side, USC and Utah fought neck and neck. Deon Reid, senior diver for the USC Trojans, came in first place in the men’s platform event with a total score of 732.17. In second place was Jacob Crayne from the University of Utah, scoring 717.00, and in third place also from the University of Utah was Josiah Purss scoring a total of 652.25.
In the men’s three-meter event, Purss came in first with a total of 768.35, Reid in second with 718.20, and Crayne in third with 703.30.
In the men’s one-meter event, Crayne finished first with a total of 746.85. In second was Collin Pollard from USC scoring 736.65, and in third place was Reid scoring 689.40.
“I’m pretty happy with my performance this weekend. I hope that I can repeat this at Pac-12s,” shared Reid. “I think the Pac-12 is a very competitive conference. Every year the divers improve and this year is no different. Some of the divers have added harder dives and I’m excited to see how everyone matches up come competition time. As the season progresses I’m looking forward to improving my dives to the best of my ability and enjoying my last few months as a Trojan diver.”
Pac-12 Championships begin February 24, in Federal Way, Washington.