Dusel Leads Virginia on Opening Day of Tennessee Diving Invitational
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Senior Sydney Dusel (Naperville, Ill.) captured a second-place finish on the 1m board to lead the Virginia men’s and women’s diving teams on the opening day (Jan. 3) of the Tennessee Diving Invitational at the Jones Aquatic Center.
Dusel recorded a score of 308.50 to place second overall on the 1m board. She advanced to the finals with a third-place finish and a score of 293.25 during the prelims.
In addition to Dusel, sophomores Walker Creedon (Cary, N.C.) and Jake Greenberg (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) advanced to the finals on the opening day as the two Cavaliers competed on the men’s 3m board. Creedon finished seventh with a score of 335.20, while Greenberg placed 12th with a score of 287.65.
During the prelims, Greenberg captured a score of 320.00 for a sixth-place finish, while Creedon recorded a score of 311.15 for 10th place.
Results from Friday and Saturday’s prelims will be added to the team’s dual meet score against Auburn on Saturday. Against the Auburn divers, Dusel captured a second-place finish on the 1m board, placing behind the Tigers’ Allison Maillard (295.55).
Greenberg finished second against the Tigers on the 3m board, while Creedon finished fourth.
“It’s tough to deal with the holiday break and jump right back into high level competition, but our divers stepped up today,” head diving coach Drew Livingston said. “This invitational features some of the best programs in the country. We were the only team with three men in the top 12. I’m really proud of the way the guys battled. Walker (Creedon) did a great job improving on his prelim score and moving up to seventh in the finals. I’m not sure what else there is to say about Sydney (Dusel) that you can’t see from her results. She just keeps competing at a high level every chance she gets.
“We’re looking forward to coming back stronger tomorrow. It’s important that we keep improving and doing our best to help our swimming and diving team against Auburn this weekend.”
The Cavalier divers will return to action on Saturday for day two of the Tennessee Diving Invitational. The women’s 3m dive and men’s 1m dive will begin at 11:30 a.m. The UVA swimmers will compete in a dual meet at Auburn’s James E. Martin Aquatic Center. Short course events will start noon ET before the teams return for a long course session at 6 p.m.