2022 Trojan Diving Invitational
- November 11-13, 2022
- Uytengsu Aquatics Center, Los Angeles, Ca.
- Diving-only
- Teams Competing: UCLA, Pepperdine, UNLV, Cal Baptist, UC Berkeley, Fresno State, Air Force Academy, USC
- Results
Courtesy: USC Athletics
The USC diving squad wrapped up their final event of the fall on Sunday, Nov. 13, claiming seven out of eight events during the three-day Trojan Diving Invitational at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
Divers from UCLA, Pepperdine, UNLV, Cal Baptist, UC Berkeley, Fresno State, Air Force Academy and USC competed on all three specialties at the annual event.
MEN’S 1-METER / WOMEN’S 3-METER
Sophomore Shangfei Wang led a Trojan sweep on Friday, Nov. 11, capturing the men’s 1-meter competition with a score of 746.85. All-American George Korovin was second (675.95), while Laurent Gosselin-Paradis (624.65) was third.
USC diver Nike Agunbiade highlighted the Women of Troy’s efforts on 3-meter, finishing second with 592.80 points. Junior Allison Ward was third on the springboard competition with 555.80 points. Sophomore Grace Lee was sixth with 534.05.
MEN’S 3-METER / WOMEN’S PLATFORM / TEAM EVENTS
USC’s Shangfei Wang won his second event of the weekend on Saturday, Nov. 12, winning the men’s 3-meter event with 845.75. Trojan George Korovin was second with 813.15, while Laurent Gosselin-Paradis was fourth with 741.50 points.
Agunbiade, a platform All-American, won the event at the Trojan Invite with 618.30 points. Finishing second for Troy was Grace Lee with 456.25.
USC also won both of the newly introduced team events on Saturday afternoon.
MEN’S PLATFORM / WOMEN’S 1-METER
The Women of Troy recorded a 1-2 finish on 1-meter to wrap up the final day of action at the Trojan Diving Invitational as Lina Sculti captured the event with 608.15 points. Shortly behind her was sophomore Grace Lee who wrapped up the afternoon with 569.55.
Newcomer Laurent Gosselin-Paradis closed out the weekend with a win on platform, leading a 1-2 Trojan finish in the event as he earned 832.65 points on tower. Finishing second was the 2022 Pac-12 platform champion George Korovin who garnered 728.60 points.
Courtesy: UCLA Athletics
DAY TWO RECAP
Freshman Eden Cheng, senior Hannah Butler, and sophomore Zoe Jespersgaard all punched their tickets to Zones in 1-meter after finishing 3-4-5 in the 1M Championship at the Trojan Diving Invitational on Sunday afternoon at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
Cheng was the Bruins’ top finisher on Sunday, taking third-place with a combined score of 556.65. She ended up fewer than three points behind the runner-up, USC’s Grace Lee (569.55).
Butler (548.50) and Jespersgaard (547.90) both had big finals sessions to secure top-five finishes. Both notched their highest scores of the season thus far in 1M during finals, with Butler (288.25) and Jespersgaard (284.35) each notching Zones-qualifying scores. They were also the two-highest scores in 1M by any Bruin this season.
Cheng finished prelims in third place (275.20), and maintained that position with a season-best 281.45 in the finals session.
Stay tuned to @UCLASwimAndDive on Instagram and Twitter for all team updates.
DAY ONE RECAP
Sophomore Zoe Jespersgaard captured the 3-meter diving title with a combined score of 611.90 to highlight UCLA’s first day at the 2022 Trojan Diving Invitational at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
Jespersgaard was the lone diver to break the 600-point mark, edging out USC’s Nike Agunbiade (592.80). Agunbiade was the only other diver to finish within 50 points of Jespersgaard.
UCLA ultimately received top-10 finishes from all three of its entries, as senior Hannah Butler (539.95) was fifth and sophomore Maya Salvitti (477.20) was ninth in a 17-diver field. Other schools competing included UNLV, Fresno State, Pepperdine, and California.
The victory marked Jespersgaard’s first as a collegiate diver in an invitational format, as she was runner-up in 3M at last year’s Trojan Diving Invite.
Jespersgaard led practically the entire way, overtaking Agunbiade on her third dive of prelims and finishing with the top score of the opening session at 297.45. She briefly ceded the lead, by less than half a point, after the second round of finals, but came back to score over 58 points on her next two dives – a 107C and 205B – to take the lead for good. Those dives marked her two highest-scoring rounds of the entire competition.
Jespersgaard and Butler have both officially qualified for this season’s NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, having cleared the 280-point threshold for 3-meter.
The Bruins return to action at the Trojan Diving Invitational on Sunday, with all three competing in the 1-meter championship.
