Nov. 19, 2017
Flagstaff, Ariz.----- The San Jose State University divers saved their collective best for the final day of the Northern Arizona Lumberjack Invitational.
The Spartans started the three-day meet with Cari Reiswig's ninth-place finish in the 1-meter. Stepping up to the 3-meter board, San Jose State had three top-20 finishers led by Reswig's 11th and followed by Natasha Sondeno in 19th and Kylie Fonseca in 20th.
Stepping up to the 10-meter platform event, there were lifetime best scores for Fonseca and junior Eri Tamada, three in the top-10 and all four Spartans in the top-20 among the 25 entries.
Fonseca led San Jose State with a fifth-place finish and a career-best score of 218.10. Sondeno was eighth at 212.10, just shy of her career best of 214.80. Reiswig posted her second top-10 finish in the meet by placing ninth with a 206.20 score. Tamada was 20th with her career best of 175.40 on the platform.
"This was a tremendous day at the pool for the Spartan divers. We had three divers in the top nine and two with personal bests," said San Jose State diving coach Mark Butcher.
"Kylie came out with some fire. This is the most consistent platform competition for her in her four seasons as a Spartan and bodes very well for the end of the season.
"'Tasha' (Sondeno) started the competition with a great dive and kept chugging through to the end. Using one of her dives for the very first time, she did a great job of keeping her composure.
"Cari also was had a brand new dive and had 5-of-5 great takeoffs today. Once we put some finishing touches on her entries, she will be a genuine force in this event at the Mountain West Championships."
"And, Eri put in a lifetime best performance and is on a great track after recovering from surgery in the off season."
San Jose State and California of the Pac-12 were the two schools with three divers finishing in the top-10 for platform. The Spartans also had a chance to see divers from New Mexico and Colorado State in the event. New Mexico had four Lobos finish in the top-20 with a 12th place by its best individual finisher. Colorado State's top performer was 13th.
"Overall, the weekend was a great bonding experience and a wonderful mirror to hold up to see where are and where we need to go. Now, we have an intense training period ahead of us which I am very much looking forward to."
The next meet strictly for the divers is the Bruin Invitational, January 12-14, hosted by UCLA.
Northern Arizona Lumberjack Invitational
Aquatic Center, Flagstaff, Ariz.
November 19, 2017
Platform diving -- 1, Mara Alacoboae, Arizona State, 320.25. 2, Briana Thai, California, 256.60. 3, Kathleen Navas, California, 239.60. San Jose State finishers -- 5, Kylie Fonseca, 218.10. 8, Natasha Sondeno, 212.10. 9, Cari Reiswig, 206.20. 20, Eri Tamada, 175.40.