LOS ANGELES – With 1-Meter and 3-Meter wins already achieved, Eloise Belanger capped her weekend at the Bruin Diving Invitational with a runner-up finish in Sunday's Platform. The junior registered a 288.50 final-round performance and 539.35 total score. Traci Shiver joined Belanger in the final and finished ninth with an overall tally of 439.80.
"I think that the whole weekend in general was pretty consistent, especially 1-Meter and 3-Meter," Belanger said. "There were some mistakes, but I think that coming from Christmas break, it was pretty good. And it gives me a good idea to what I have to work on for the following weeks."
The Montreal, QC, Canada native had a productive preliminary round, posting three dives of at least 52.20 en route to a 250.85 performance on her first five dives of the day. Shiver impressed on her final two dives of the prelim, notching scores of 50.75 (5152B) and 50.40 (405B) to put her in the final with a ninth-place showing. Madeline Russell (205.70) earned a Top-20 finish, while Alice Yanovsky completed her weekend with a 28th-place effort.
Belanger turned in one of the day's best dives in the final, where her 205B went for a score of 69.60. Each of her other dives was consistently in a 52.65-57.20 range, which moved her up the leaderboard. Ultimately, though, Hawai'i's Madison Sthamann proved too much. After posting a first-place score of 292.95 in the prelim, the senior exploded for a 334.25 mark in the final. Her overall score of 627.20 was more than enough for the win, while Belanger's consistency stayed true with a second-place finish and nearly another championship following a lengthy layoff from competition.
"I thought that Eloise was exceptional," head diving coach Tom Stebbins said. "She… had been a little bit sick, and so was just trying to get her focus back. And then finding a way to kind of overcome the physical part that she was a little bit behind on was really important."
Shiver saved her best dive of the final for last, as the junior's 405B went for a mark of 51.80. She remained in the ninth spot upon completion of Sunday's final.
Swimmers and divers will have just shy of a two-week break before No. 2 Stanford comes to Spieker Aquatics Center. The Cardinal will visit Jan. 26 for a 1:00 p.m. dual meet. No. 3 California will come in one day later (12:00 p.m.).