In an exciting showdown between the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's (SCIAC) top divers, competitors from Occidental College, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges and Whittier College captured titles in respective events. Occidental's sophomore Jessica Robson (Elk Grove, CA) headlined the day by taking home the top prize in the both of the women's events, tallying 420.10 points on the low dive and 433.30 points on the high dive.
Junior Carmen Lundell (Wayzata, MN) from CMS collected back-to-back runner-up marks, notching 403.80 points on the one-meter and 385.75 on the three-meter. A pair of Regals wrapped up the top-3 performers, with senior Danielle Mooshagian (Fresno, CA) earning 321.2 points on the low dive and teammate sophomore Sheyenne Machida (Kahului, HI) registering 324.70 on the high dive.
The U of R was well represented in the one-meter competition, with senior Shelby Mann (Bainbridge Island, WA) and junior Lindsey Zehner (Portland, OR) finishing sixth (272.25) and seventh (239.95), respectively. In addition, Mann earned a fifth-place mark (299.85) on the three-meter board, while freshman DrewAnn Andrews (Pasadena, CA) ranked seventh with a score of 243.45 in her inaugural championship.
On the men's side, Whittier's senior Tyler Aisner (Paso Robles, CA) was crowned the champion of the one-meter event with an NCAA Championship qualifying mark of 505.75. CMS freshman James Stevick (Berkeley, CA) earned silver with 470.50 points, while Caltech's senior Justin Johnson (Aurora, CA) slotted in third at 431.95.
On the high dive, the top trio traded places as the rookie Stevick grabbed first place with a score of 444.30, followed by the Beavers' Johnson in second (414.75), while Aisner completed the winners' podium with his third-place score of 410.25.
Sophomore Eli Niebuhr (Las Vegas, NV) of Redlands collected fourth- and fifth-place finishes for the Bulldogs, posting scores of 358.95 (3M) and 381.05 (1M).
Due to a last-minute change in venues for the swim championships, Bulldog Athletics and the University of Redlands stepped up to serve as hosts of the 2012 SCIAC Diving Finals on Saturday, Feb. 18, at the Thompson Aquatic Center. A solid crowd came out to watch the 20 student-athletes from the conference's eight programs while others enjoyed the view from afar via live web streaming
The conference's swimming teams now head to the South Gate Swim Stadium for the SCIAC Championships on Sunday, Feb. 19, through Tuesday, Feb. 21.
