Smyth, McDivitt Highlight Utah Diving’s Final Day at Texas Diving Invitational

AUSTIN, Texas – Ben Smyth and Luke McDivitt both earned spots in the top eight on the men's platform as the University of Utah diving team competed on the final day of the Texas Diving Invitational, which was held on Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Swimming Center.
 
"We did pretty well for our first platform event of the year," said diving coach Richard Marschner. "This was a good training opportunity for us and I think we took advantage of it, so now we can put a little more emphasis on the execution of our dives when we head to Princeton after Thanksgiving."
 
Both Smyth and McDivitt posted marks that surpassed the NCAA's championship qualifying standards and it was Smyth who had the best day, with a performance that graded out at 329.40 and earned him a fourth-place finish. McDivitt was just a few spots behind his teammate in eighth, collecting 304.25 points. Jenner Pennock also maneuvered his way into the top 10 with 272.55 points.
 
The top score for the Utah women belonged to Holly Waxman, who made her way into 10th with a performance that graded out at 227.59, which also counted as an NCAA zone score. Kathryn Grant posted her squad's second-best mark at 213.95, placing her in 12th and Sydney Kowalski's work on the platform earned her 181.90 points and 16th place.
 
"I think this will be a meet we'll look back on at the end of the year," said Marschner, "and realize this was where we laid the foundation for our success."
 
Looking Ahead
The next stop for Utah's swimming and diving team is Princeton, N.J., the site of the Big Al Invitational, a three-day event that begins on Dec. 2.
 
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