Divers Capture Top Four Finishes in Columbus
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Miami Hurricane divers opened the Ohio State Invitational with a splash Friday night, capturing the top two finishes in both the men’s 1-meter and the women’s 3-meter.
Senior Sam Dorman and freshman Briadam Herrera took the top spots in the 1-meter. Coming off an impressive trip to the FINA Grand Prix in Malaysia, Dorman took first with score of 375.30. Herrera was right behind him at 372.35.
It was Herrera who took first in the morning’s preliminaries, however, with a score of 377.05.
“That was a big surprise for all the other teams here who have never seen him dive before,” head coach Rany Ableman said. “This is our first stint together, and for him to show that he’s such a great competitor – he really outperformed what he does in practice. That’s such a unique quality and a great sign for the future.”
Thea Vock and Cheyenne Cousineau were up to the challenge, and took the top two spots in the 3-meter. Vock dominated to the tune of 325.20, easily capturing the top finish. Despite competing in an event outside of her specialty platform, Cousineau finished in second with a score of 308.35.
“Cheyenne’s forte is the 10-meter, and she hasn’t done a lot of 3-meter diving since the NCAA’s because we’ve been focusing on her 10-meter,” Ableman said. “It was a great night for her.”
The performance was extra special for Cousineau, who transferred to Miami from Ohio State after three impressive seasons.
“She has a lot of friends and supporters here and a lot of history here. She really wanted to do well. To do it in somewhat of an off-event was special,” Ableman said.”
The performance was especially encouraging for Ableman, given that the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion will host the USA Diving Winter Nationals in mid-December.
“That’s one of the reasons we came up here,” Ableman said. “This is a test for us to see if we’re ready for that meet and what we need to go home and work on coming out of here. We’re on schedule, we have a lot of work to do obviously, but we’re in a nice place for where we are in the season.”
Saturday’s action will include the men’s 3-meter event and the women’s 1-meter.
