Both the men and women's diving teams impressed in their first individual meet of the season Saturday, performing well in the First Annual Swimming and Diving Meet at the University of the South in Sewanee (Tenn.). No team score was recorded for Emory because only the divers represented Emory in the invitational.
For the women, junior Sarah Greene placed first out of seven in the one-meter with a 452.55 and second out of three in the three-meter with a 415.85, both NCAA-qualifying scores.
Greene was satisfied with her team's overall performance and impressed by her teammates.
"I thought [the invitational] was a really good meet," Greene said. "Our freshman [Kellen Hope] won her event and did well. Annabel [Enquist] dove very well and almost came close to qualifying. Everyone really dove well."
Fellow junior Enquist placed third out of seven in the one-meter and third in the three-meter with a score of 373.00. Hope placed first out of five in the three-meter with a score of 221.25 and fifth out of seven with a score of 363.95 in the one-meter.
This meet was unusual for the divers because it consisted of events with 11 dives, which is more than the Eagles are accustomed to doing in a meet. Nonetheless, the women feel confident and prepared for their upcoming meets due to the grind of their first meet at Sewanee.
"This was a really good meet before the University of Chicago Invitational, our big invitational," Greene said. "This meet demonstrates the high caliber of our diving team. It was an incredibly long meet, so it was tough mentally and physically, but we stuck through and persevered."
On the men's side, senior Ben Lee's career-best score of 342.90 in the one-meter placed him in first place out of four; his score of 239.10, second highest of his career, earned him second out of four in the three-meter. Lee was the sole representative for the Emory men in this meet.
This weekend the divers will square off against the Division I Bulldogs of the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. on Friday, Nov. 16, and then against many of their conference rivals in the University of Chicago Invitational on Nov. 17-18 at the University of Chicago. At this meet the divers will have their best opportunities to qualify for nationals.
– By Zonair Khan
