Jan. 15, 2016
Los Angeles, Calif. --- San Jose State Spartans' sophomore diver Cari Reiswig improves to ninth place in the final round after a rocky start in the 1-meter springboard on the first day of competition at the Bruin Diving Invitational on Friday, January 15.
"She missed one dive badly in the early round but came back fighting to get herself back into the top 9," said Spartans Diving Coach Mark Butcher.
Butcher said on Reiswig's second dive in the first round, she became off balance on her hurdle resulting in her having to leave the board with most of her feet hanging of the very end.
Bouncing back to finish 11th with a score of 253.55 in the preliminary round, Reiswig made the cut of 18 divers who advanced to the finals. Reiswig posted a score of 272.85 in the final round to climb up to ninth places for a combined total of 526.40.
"This is a good test against some very high quality divers heading into conference. There is very fierce competition this year," Butcher said.
Sophomore Kylie Fonseca returned to action after wearing a boot the last couple of weeks to score a 229.80 in the preliminary round, missing the final cut by six spots.
"She didn't start diving full time until last Monday and she is still getting back into the swing of things," Butcher said. "With her time off, I think she did great today. Just a few small mistakes that are easy to fix."
Competing in their first diving invitational, freshman Megan Au finished 42nd after the preliminary diving round with a score of 188.50 while sophomore Eri Tamada placed 43rd with a score of 168.80.
"You can talk about with the competition is going to be like but you never know how you're going to feel in the moment," Butcher said. "They may have been a little overwhelmed at first but after the first couple round they settled in and did very well."
The Spartans continue at the Bruin Diving Invitational this weekend. San Jose State competes in the 3-meter springboard on Saturday. Reiswig and Fonseca will dive in the platform competition on Sunday.
by Brian S. Stanley, SJSU athletics media relations student assistant
Day 1 Results
1-Meter Springboard - 1, Maria Polyakova, UCLA, 633.05. 2, Eloise Belanger, UCLA, 604.20. 3, Phoebe Lamay, California, 580.70. San Jose State Finishers - 9, Cari Reiswig, 526.40. 24, Kylie Fonseca, 229.80. 42, Megan Au, 188.50. 43, Eri Tamada, 168.80.