Half of finalists are BYU men divers

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – In the final day of the Air Force Invitational, four of BYU’s men divers finished in the top eight in the 1-meter and platform events on Saturday.

“It was a very successful weekend for the men’s diving team,” BYU head dive coach Tyce Routson said. “We had four Cougars in the finals for all three events throughout this invitational. It was a longer day for the men, as they competed in two events and finished the day with their hardest dives on the platform. I think we showed a force that is just getting stronger and prepping us for conference.”

On Friday, Matt Denkers, Kevin Dreesen, Eric Muir and Jordan Tuckfield ranked top eight in the 3-meter. The same four members of the dive team ended in the top eight in the 1-meter, in different order.

Dreesen finished second overall in the 1-meter with a score of 316.75, an improvement on his preliminary score of 295.35. Denkers came in fourth place, posting a final of 297.10. Tuckfield recorded a sixth-place finish with 279.95 and Muir followed close behind in seventh with 277.45.

The platform event is more challenging for the BYU dive team because they do not have facilities in their home pool that supply the platform board. Because of this, the team has minimal time to prepare for and compete in the platform event. In spite of this, the men's dive team finished the with five of their six divers in the top 10 in the platform diving. 

Denkers placed third in the platform event with a total score of 279.30 and he was followed in fifth place by teammate Trayton Speth, who scored 269.05. Dreesen ranked seventh overall with 248.85 and Tuckfield came in eighth with a total of 233.00.

The BYU women's dive team competed in the 1-meter and platform events on Friday and participated in the 3-meter event today. 

“The women’s team have improved in their consistency through all six dives and will be ready to score points at conference,” Routson said. "The format of the conference will be more spread out with only one event a day, and their focus will be to defeat their closest competitors.”

The final scores for the women’s 3-meter event have not yet been released. Results will be posted as soon as they become available.

The BYU men’s and women’s diving team will continue to practice in preparation for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships that will be taking place Feb. 15-18 in Pasadena, California.