IU has 'strong showing' at diving competition

The IU women's divers successfully returned to competition in the Indiana Winter Invitational and Dive-Off after five days of intensive training over the semester break. The Hoosiers played host to Iowa State and Purdue for three days of diving to start off the spring championship season.\nIn the three-meter events on Friday, IU junior Sara Reiling and Boilermaker senior Kara Hajek-Gustafson battled it out throughout the day. Hajek-Gustafson edged out Reiling by three points with a total of 518.40 in the collegiate event. Reiling's second place finish led a string of Hoosiers who placed second through seventh. Senior Erin Quinn finished third with a total of 493.90, while juniors Jennifer Sonneborn and Crystal Gregory rounded out the top five.\nHajek-Gustafson also defeated Reiling in the three-meter open event. Reiling posted a total of 471.70, but Hajek-Gustafson topped her with a score of 482.65. Gregory improved to place third with a total of 456.90. Quinn and Sonneborn rounded out the top five.\nReiling wasn't worried about the performances of Hajek-Gustafson after the first day, but rather was trying to focus on her own dives and fine points she could improve upon.\n"I wasn't really focusing on the other competitors," Reiling said. "I am still working on specific things with Jeff (coach Huber). We are working on a lot of the little details that kind of get overlooked."\nQuinn and Reiling raised the level of their performance for the one-meter collegiate and open events and the three-meter dive-off Saturday. In the finals of the collegiate event, Quinn nipped Reiling by just one-half of a point with a total of 310.45. The score set a personal best for Quinn and broke Reiling's one-meter school record of 305.475, which had been set in November. Gregory completed the 1-2-3 sweep for the Hoosiers, with a total of 283.95.\nThe open event saw Quinn and Reiling duel for first and second again, with Reiling getting the better of Quinn. Reiling posted a score of 279.70 to defeat Quinn, who scored a total of 258.05. Hajek-Gustafson finished third, the only non-Hoosier in the top seven finishers. Sonneborn and sophomore Cassandra Cardinell rounded out the top five.\nReiling also fared well in the elimination format of the three-meter dive-off. She was able to avenge Friday's defeats to the Boilermakers' Hajek-Gustafson, with a total of 495.70. The score set a new U.S. Diving sanctioned pool record at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center. Hajek-Gustafson posted a 490.25 to finish second, while the Hoosiers once again took six of the top seven places.\nSunday's platform event was a chance for several Hoosiers to get on the tower in true competition rather than just practice. Each IU diver performed her dives from the 10-meter platform, while the Boilermakers and Cyclones completed most of their dives on the seven- and five-meter towers.\nHuber believed the Hoosiers' willingness to go all the way up to the 10-meter was a credit to the toughness of the team. He said the tower is the team's premier event and that the tower is important for the NCAA Championships.\n"The women's team is extremely tough," Huber said. "I don't think there is a team that is mentally or physically tougher than they are. They are up on the platform because they want to be. We have a goal to be good on the tower."\nThe Hoosiers showed their depth on the platform by placing first through fourth. Reiling led the Hoosiers with a score of 486.10 to set a new U.S. Diving Pool record. Junior Mamie Goodson placed second with a total of 410.45. Gregory and junior Lori Matthys placed third and fourth. Cardinell posted a total of 461.60 while diving in exhibition.\n Gregory was up on the platform for the first time in competition; she thought the weekend gave the team good experience going into the spring season.\n "It felt all right (to be up on the platform)," she said. "Obviously, it is not going to feel great because it is only your first time. This weekend was not necessarily about doing well, but to allow us to get our dives off in competition."\n Huber was pleased with the team's overall performance and thinks the team's improvement is ahead of last year's pace.\n"We did some great stuff," he said. "Overall it was a good weekend. I am never satisfied, and all of us can look better, but compared to this time last year we look a lot better."\nThe Hoosiers compete against Ohio State 1 p.m. Jan 12 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center.