UCLA Diving Dominates in Minnesota
December 05, 2015 | Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- The Bruin divers dominated the competition at the Jean K. Freeman Invitational in Minnesota this weekend. November's Pac-12 Diver of the Month Maria Polyakova swept the springboard events. The UCLA sophomore is now 9-for-10 on the boards since October and has placed first in every 3-meter final so far this season.
In Friday's 3-meter event, Polyakova posted the top mark. Her score of 365.00 was nearly 22 points higher than second-place Lexi Tenenbaum of Minnesota. Also in the top five, Ciara Monahan scored a 309.70 to finish third. Éloïse Bélanger and Annika Lenz finished in the top 10—Bélanger placed sixth with a 302.40 and Lenz was seventh with a 298.15.
With their scores, Lenz, Monahan, and Bélanger all qualified for NCAA Zones in the 3-meter.
In Saturday's 1-meter event, Polyakova and Monahan went 1, 2 with scores of 326.75 and 282.30. In the final diving event of the weekend, Bélanger and Lenz placed second and third, respectively, on the platform. Bélanger edged Lenz by .20, while Lenz bested the remaining five divers by more than 33 points. Bélanger's 302.95 qualified her for NCAA Zones in the Platform.
Next up, the Bruins head to Winter Nationals in Indianapolis, Ind. The Championships will take place Dec. 15-20 at the IUPUI Natatorium.
