Hallaselkä Leads UCLA at Bruin Diving Invite

Friday, January 12

Los Angeles, CA

All Day

UCLA

Bruin Diving Invitational

Hallaselkä Leads UCLA at Bruin Diving Invite

January 14, 2024 | Swimming & Diving

LOS ANGELES – Freshman Lauren Hallaselkä and junior Zoe Jespersgaard both recorded top-five individual finishes to lead UCLA at the 2023 Bruin Diving Invitational, which ran from Friday through Sunday at Spieker Aquatics Center.

Hallaselkä took first in the 3-meter championship, while Jespersgaard earned a third-place finish in the 3-meter championship on Saturday.

Overall, UCLA placed eighth in Friday's team event, with the trio of Maya Shtolzberg, Laura Fisher, and Molly Brascia combining to score 250.15 points. USC (329.60) won the team event.

Earlier on Friday, Hallaselkä and Jespersgaard each had a strong showing in the one-meter competition. The duo both easily qualified for finals in the event after placing fourth and sixth, respectively, in prelims. Jespersgaard then scored 291.05 in the finals to solidify fourth place in the competition. Hallaselkä finished right behind her in finals, scoring 284.25 points to place fifth overall in the event.

As for Saturday, the Bruins dominated the three-meter championship. Fresh off a fourth and fifth-place showing in the one-meter a day ago, Hallaselkä was the class of the field throughout, scoring a 310.20 in prelims before recording a season-best score in the finals. The freshman from Helsinki, Finland took the finals by storm, scoring 365.10 in the finals, and won the event by over 50 points. Jespersgaard also did well throughout the competition, finishing on the podium and placing third with a score of 610.85.

The Bruins only had one athlete in action on Sunday in the platform dive event in Laura Fisher. The Altadena, California native performed well for the Bruins, making it to the finals of the event, before placing sixth overall with a score of 445.00 points.

The UCLA swim and dive team is next in action in two weeks, facing Stanford at the Spieker Aquatic Center in a Pac-12 dual meet on February 2. The meet is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. PT.