Nov. 12, 2016
LOS ANGELES - San Diego State sent all five of its divers to the finals of the 1-meter competition at the USC Diving Invitational Saturday afternoon at the Trojans' Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles. And for the second day in a row it was junior Alexandra Caplan who led SDSU with another third-place finish.
Caplan posted a score of 279.60 in the prelims of the 1-meter board and found herself in third place at the end of those six dives. She maintained that position in the finals as she added 276.15 for a total mark of 555.75.
The winner of the event was Eloise Belanger of UCLA with a score of 589.65 with her teammate, Ciara Monahan, placing second with a mark of 562.65.
SDSU freshman Mari Yacopino had the Aztecs' second-best finish as she placed 10th with a total score of 482.15. Her mark of 243.65 in the prelims had also left her in 10th place and she added 238.53 points with her six dives in the final.
Aztec junior Makena Chamoures was the lone SDSU competitor to improve her standing from the prelims to the finals. Her score of 234.85 in the prelims put her in 12th place, and she moved up one spot to 11th after the finals with a total of 475.85 a she scored 241.00 for her six dives in the final round.
San Diego State's other two divers were also among the 18 who qualified for the finals out of the 33 athletes involved in the event. Payton Gabris placed 15th in the prelims and finals with scores of 217.90 and 212.85 (total score of 430.75) while Nicole Dutton was right behind her in 16th place with marks of 211.40 and 214.40 (total score of 425.80).
Action will conclude at the 2016 USC Diving Invitational on Sunday, Nov. 13, with prelims on the platform board scheduled to get underway 11:00 a.m. (PT) and the finals slated to start at 1:30 p.m.