Jackson, Strauss qualify for finals on day 1 of Air Force Diving Invite

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo — The first day of the Air Force Diving Invite saw Alexia Jackson in the 3-meter and Mickey Strauss in the 1-meter post the top scores among the Cougar divers at the Cadet Natatorium. 

Jackson's eighth place finish in the qualifying round with a 270.15 was enough to help her advance to the finals competition. From there, she went on to finish in eighth place overall among the competition, scoring a 279.50. It was Texas A&M's Alyssa Clairmont who came away with the win, scoring a 346.10 in the final round. 

Among other Cougar divers for the women's team on Thursday were Brooklyn Larson and Sophia DeBergh, both of which finished in the top 25 of the prelim round among all competitors. Larson's 231.55 was good for 22nd out of 46 competitors, while DeBergh's 230.60 was good for 23rd. Tomorrow's event for the women will be the 1-meter dive.

On the men's side, Strauss finished the prelim 1-meter dive round with a 320.05, good for 9th place and a chance to compete in the final round. It was there where he scored a 348.35, placing him in 5th place overall for the event behind Texas A&M's Victor Povzner, who finished with a 394.55. 

Other men to compete in the event on the day were Nathan Marshall, Cody Dreesen and Chase Hindmarsh. All divers for the Cougars placed in the top 30 among 36 total competitors. Marshall's 251.60 was good for 23rd place, with Dreesen's 250.00 placing him in 24th and Hindmarsh's 245.90 placing him in 26th. Tomorrow's event will feature the men competing in the 3-meter dive. 

The first event Friday, Feb. 3 will begin at 10 a.m. MT. A recap of the results will be posted to the byucougars.com website at the conclusion of the day's events. A live stream of the events will also be available on Air Force's YouTube page.