Cousineau Earns Top Finish on Final Day
COLUMBUS – Senior diver Cheyenne Cousineau helped the Hurricane diving team finish its trip to the Ohio State Invitational on a high note Sunday, capturing top honors in the women’s platform event.
Cousineau, who took second in the 3-meter on Friday night – finishing only behind teammate Thea Vock – turned in the best performance of the day in the 10-meter. Cousineau finished with 281.90, narrowly edging MacKenzie Tweardy of Purdue (281.00) for first place.
The performance was especially gratifying for Cousineau, who was competing in front of her hometown fans.
“It was great for her,” head coach Randy Ableman said. “She had her whole crew here – her parents, grandparents, brothers, aunts, cousins. She really wanted to do well in front of her family.”
Ableman said to watch Cousineau dominate against her former school was impressive.
“It was really nice to see her come through,” he said. “She dove better than she has been in practice, which is always a great sign this time of year. We still have some ways to go.”
The weekend marked a success for Miami divers, who took the top two finishes Friday night in the men’s 1-meter and women’s 3-meter. Sam Dorman and Briadam Herrera finished 1-2, while Vock and Cousineau accomplished the same feat.
“This is our first meet where we had some stiff competition,” Ableman said. “The kids showed they were ready to compete. I just need to refine some things over the next month with them. I think – knock on wood, if everyone’s healthy – we should have some good some good performance at Winter Nationals.”
With a number of prominent international competitions in play for the qualifiers in December’s USA Diving Winter Nationals, Ableman thought his divers could benefit from making the trip to the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion and familiarize themselves with the arena.
“It was a good move coming up here. It’s a great facility,” Ableman said. “It’s going to be a big help when we come back here in three weeks or so to feel ready to go for nationals.”
USA Diving Winter Nationals are set to open Dec. 16.
