SAN DIEGO – San Diego State will send a delegation of six divers to compete in the Riverside Collegiate Invitational, scheduled for Dec. 6-7, in Riverside, California.
Making the short drive to the Riverside Aquatics Center this week are Taylor Konopacke, Valentina Lopez Arevalo, Jessica Schroeder, Alina Skrocki, Summer Westmoreland and Olivia Zamudio.
Along with the Aztecs, the two-day meet features divers from Biola University, California Baptist, Chapman, Concordia Irvine and UNLV. The competition gets underway on both days at 9 a.m. PT, with live results available on DiveMeets.com.
SDSU will participate in all three events, beginning with the preliminaries of the 1-meter springboard on Friday morning to be followed later in the day with final-round action.
In addition, the preliminaries and finals of the 3-meter springboard will be conducted on Saturday, sandwiched around the platform competition.
The Aztecs are coming off a strong second-place finish in a stacked field at the Hawkeye Invitational, Nov. 21-23, in Iowa City, Iowa, where Lopez Arevalo surpassed NCAA zone qualifying standards in all three diving events to earn Mountain West Diver of the Week honors for the second time this season.
At the Iowa meet, Lopez Arevalo was the lone SDSU competitor to advance to the “A” finals of the 1-meter springboard, where she placed seventh with a season-high total of 283.65 points. The Aztec senior also took home the crown in the 3-meter consolation finals the following day with another season-best score of 312.30 points.
In addition, Lopez Arevalo captured a silver medal in the platform “A” finals with 285.00 points in her first appearance from that height this season, helping the Scarlet and Black climb one spot in the team standings into second place.
Earlier this fall, Lopez Arevalo garnered MW Diver of the Week accolades after taking home a pair of crowns in the 1-meter (263.10) and 3-meter (306.65) events at the Fresno State Invitational, helping the Scarlet and Black to another solid second-place finish.
Elsewhere, Skrocki eclipsed an NCAA zone qualifying mark on the 3-meter board at the Hawkeye Invite with a season-high total of 286.10 points, while Westmoreland (245.58) was victorious in 1-meter action to help the Aztecs roll to a 95-52 dual-meet triumph at Pepperdine on Oct. 3.
SDSU will be competing at the Riverside Collegiate Invitational for the second year in a row as Lopez Arevalo pulled off the weekend trifecta last season, winning all three event titles en route to collecting another MW Diver of the Week certificate. In addition, Skrocki logged a pair of runner-up finishes on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards, while Konopacke placed fifth from the platform height.
Following a break for final exams and the holidays, the San Diego State swim and dive program returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 2, when the full squad convenes to welcome New Mexico and Pepperdine in a double dual meet at Aztec Aquaplex. First swim is set for 2 p.m. PT, and admission is free.