Courtesy: NC State Athletics
RALEIGH, N.C. – NC State’s divers will start the 2019 calendar year this weekend as they continue the season at the Georgia Diving Invitational, which is set to run Jan. 4-6 at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga.
Nine Wolfpack divers will be in action at this weekend’s meet, with three athletes competing for the first time this season. NC State will be represented by Taylor Bennett, James Brady, Rachel Burston, Hailey Fisher, Holt Gray, Madeline Kline, Bailey Revels, Michelle Schlossmacher Smith and Stewart Spanbauer.
Iowa State, Georgia, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Alabama, Missouri, Virginia, South Carolina, SMU and Tennessee will also send divers to Athens to compete this weekend.
Competition begins at 11 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, with the women’s three-meter and men’s one-meter events contested Friday and the women’s one-meter and men’s three-meter events slated for Saturday. Sunday’s action will open at 10 a.m. with the platform.
Brady, who wrapped up action at the USA Diving Winter Trials a few weeks ago, has competed in all three of NC State’s meets this season and also represented the conference at the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. The Wolfpack junior most recently saw collegiate action at the IU Invitational in November. Brady took first place in the platform dive for his first event win of the season and hit 80 points on a dive for the first time in his career on the way to winning with a Zone mark of 353.30.
Kline has also been in action at all four meets this season and has finished on the podium five times to kick off her junior campaign. She last competed at the IU Invitational, where she took second place on the platform, an event in which she won the ACC title at the end of the 2017-18 season.
Bennett, Fisher, Gray and Schlossmacher Smith all make their return to the boards after having seen action for the Pack at multiple meets during the opening portion of the season, and Burston, Revels and Spanbauer will make their season debuts at the meet this weekend.
After the conclusion of the Georgia Diving Invitational, NC State’s swimming and diving teams will compete in full on Jan. 19 as the Wolfpack welcomes UNC-Chapel Hill to Raleigh. The home opener is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Willis R. Casey Aquatic Center.
