Virginia Divers Fare Well at Big Al Open
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PRINCETON, N.J. – The Virginia men’s and women’s diving teams fared well over the weekend at Princeton’s Big Al Open, held in Princeton, N.J. The men’s team finished first in the team standings while the women placed fourth overall.
The Cavalier men had a pair of 1-2 finishes on both the 3-meter board and the platform. Freshman JB Kolod won the 3-meter event with a mark of 359.05 and was followed in second by teammate Briggy Imbriglia, who finished with a mark of 340.15.
“I was particularly proud of how the men dove at night during finals,” Virginia diving coach Rich MacDonald said. “When the pressure was on they rose to the occasion. They did their best diving when it really mattered.”
The two then traded spots on the platform, with Imbriglia, a senior, breaking a six-year pool record with a winning score of 289.85. Kolod was second in the event, finishing with a mark of 255.00.
“I knew we could score a bunch of points on the final day with the platform event,” MacDonald continued. “That’s an advantage we have with the addition of our platform two and a half years ago. It was a great way to end the weekend.”
It took a 1-2 finish for the men to edge Army to win the invitational by one point.
In the first event of the meet, the 1-meter board, Kolod placed second (305.45) while Imbriglia was third (305.00).
The Virginia women got their first points of the meet thanks to a ninth-place finish from freshman Laura Gartrell on the 1-meter as she just missed a berth in the finals. Gartrell finished with a score of 227.40. Teammate Carlin Tettelbach was 17th in the event (208.30) and Kelly Lloyd took 19th (206.50).
“Laura had a nice performance and that got us moving forward was something to build off,” MacDonald said. “A lot of confidence should come out of the weekend.”
On the platform, the Cavalier trio all finished among the top eight. Gartrell led the way with a sixth-place finish (168.50). Tettelbach was seventh (163.35) while Lloyd was eighth (137.80).
Lloyd had the top performance for Virginia on the 3-meter board, finishing 21st with a score of 205.90.Tettelbach took 23rd (204.05) and Gartrell placed 26th (189.85).
The Cavalier divers will be back in action Jan. 3-5 at the Georgia Diving Invitational in Athens, Ga.