UCLA
Texas Invitational
No. 25 UCLA Returns to Action in Texas, Georgia
November 28, 2017 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES – The No. 25 UCLA swimming and diving team will return from a long layoff when it takes part in separate invitationals across the country this week. Swimmers, who last competed Nov. 4, will begin at the four-day Texas Invitational Wednesday. Divers, meanwhile, will start at the three-day Georgia Invitational Friday after nearly three weeks away from competition.
Results from Texas will be available HERE. Dive-by-dive scores will be tabulated at DIVEMEETS.COM.
Bruin swimmers most recently took on Arizona and Arizona State in the desert, where they dropped both meets, but still turned in impressive individual performances. Katie Grover shined brightest, with three wins (50 Free, 100 Free, 100 Fly) against the Wildcats and two more (100 Free, 100 Fly) versus the Sun Devils. Kenisha Liu and Emma Schanz each contributed two individual victories at Arizona.
Grover will look to continue her success in Texas, as the senior from Atlanta is scheduled to compete in five individual events (50 Free, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Free, 200 Fly). Nine other Bruins are scheduled to take part in five, while Liu is listed most on the PSYCH SHEET, with six. Eleven other teams will participate on the women's side of the invitational, including Pac-12 foes Arizona and USC.
The Bruins registered a fifth-place finish at the 2016 Texas Invite, which featured a nine-team field. Liu has already had success in Austin, setting a new freshman record in the 200 IM (1:58.09) last year.
On the diving side, the Bruins will look to build off a strong showing at the Trojan Diving Invitational Nov. 11-13. Bruins went 1-2 in the 3-Meter competition, as Ciara Monahan topped Eloise Belanger on the first day at USC. Monahan returned a day later with yet another first-place performance, this time topping Trojan Carly Souza in the 1-Meter. While the Platform competition on Day 3 did not feature a Bruin winner, Traci Shiver and Madeline Russell both recorded Top-10 finishes. Shiver came in third and qualified for her first Zones trip.
The Georgia Invitational will begin with the 1-Meter event Friday, with Belanger, Monahan, Russell, Shiver and Alice Yanovsky all taking part. Day 2's 3-Meter contest will feature the same five. Monahan will not participate in Sunday's Platform.
The Bruins swept last year's Georgia Invite, with Belanger totaling three Top-3 finishes. The Montreal, QC, Canada native won the 3-Meter on the first day of competition, while Annika Lenz took the Platform in her final season. Maria Polyakova completed the clean sweep with the 1-Meter win.
Players Mentioned
