By Bailey Putnam, deputy sports editor
The Northeastern diving team racked up 39 overall points at the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Diving Championships this weekend and sent one competitor to the final round of the 3-meter dive, as well as three girls to the consolation rounds in both the 1- and 3-meter events. The Huskies placed fourth of eight overall, behind James Madison University (100 points), Towson University (95) and University of Delaware (61).
The Huskies leapt out to a strong start on the first day of competition. All four NU divers placed in the top 16 of the 3-meter event on Saturday, a feat that was only matched by one of the other teams.
Freshman Alyssa Seales paved the way for the Huskies with her eighth-place finish in the final round. Seales notched a score of 266.8 and secured over 10 points for the Huskies’ score.
Fellow freshmen Jacquelyn Gover and Caroline Gonsalves followed suit with 11th- and 12th-place finishes, respectively, while junior Megan Rutter placed just a step behind at 14th. The girls dove for 257.70, 254.85 and 236.65 scores, respectively, in the consolation round.
The following day, the climb up to the diving platform was not so arduous as the women competed in the 1-meter event.
This time, it was Gover who stole the show for NU. The freshman diver achieved a ninth-place score of 273.20, over 15 points higher than her preliminary mark. Gover led her four teammates with 15 total points towards the Huskies’ overall score.
“She just wants to learn,” Coach Lauren Colby said at the culmination of Gover’s first season. “I’ll tell her something and she tries really hard, and if she doesn’t get it the first time, she’ll just keep trying and trying.”
Seales followed up her impressive first-day effort with a 231.25-point dive that landed her in 15th place in the consolation round. Gonsalves finished just before her in 14th place with 233.10 points. Rutter’s 17th-place overall finish was just 5.05 points away from allowing her to advance to the consolation round.
For Gover and her teammates, the season has been marked by an upward trend of progression.
“At the beginning we did well, but towards the end we got more consistent with our dives,” Gover said. “At the [University of Vermont] meet [on Jan. 17], I was so ecstatic that I got first on both events. I was hitting my dives spot on and I think that continued for the rest of season.”
The 39 points that the divers secured rolls over into this weekend as the swim team competes in Richmond, Va. for the CAA swimming championships. The swimming portion of the competition takes place over four days, ending on Saturday.
The Huskies, who finished sixth overall in the 2014 championships, will use the strong finishes by their diving teammates to try to move up in the ranks among their competition.
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
