The Cardinal men’s and women’s diving squad and coach Rick Schavone — who was recently nominated to be the head coach for the U.S. diving team at the World Cup meet in February — are set to host the three-day Stanford Diving Invitational, which begins today. Five other teams will compete at the invitational, including Cal, UCLA, Cal Poly, Fresno State and San Jose State.
On the men’s side, senior Taylor Sishc and sophomores Noah Garcia, Larry Reinhard Jr. and Dhruve Tyagi are slated to compete in all three events — the 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and platform. Junior Tommy Fraychineaud and freshmen Kristian Ipsen and Connor Kuremsky will compete in the 1-meter and 3-meter events.
The Stanford divers are carrying momentum from previous meets into the invitational. Tyagi and Sishc finished second and third, respectively, in the platform event at the Wildcat Invite earlier this season. Tyagi also placed second in the 3-meter while Sishc placed second in the platform at the UCLA Bruins Diving Invite last season. The Bruins Invite took place in lieu of this year’s Cardinal-hosted invitational, but consisted of a similar competition field.
Likewise, Ipsen is coming off another typically impressive performance at Winter Nationals three weeks ago, winning the 3-meter synchronized diving crown and notching a second-place finish in the 3-meter springboard. Ipsen is also undefeated in all the dual meet events he’s competed in so far this season.
On the women’s side, sophomore Stephanie Phipps, who was named All-American last year in the 3-meter, looks to lead the way. Phipps won both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events at the Haines Invite earlier in October as well as dual meet events against Utah and San Jose State. At last year’s Bruin Invite, Phipps also took second in the 3-meter.
Along with Phipps, sophomore Kerrin Seymour and freshman Sloane Brazina will compete in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events. Junior Jennifer Wylie will be in all the springboard and platform events while sophomore Jill Fisher will dive on the 1-meter and platform.
Both the men’s and women’s divers will face quality competition over the span of the next three days. Cal’s top men’s diver, Tyler Pullen, won the 1-meter event in his dual meet against Utah. Cal’s Kelsey Heiken also qualified for finals at the Pac-10 Championship last year. UCLA will also showcase Emma Ivory, who finished fifth in the synchronized platform at Winter Nationals and fourth in the same event at the 2011 AT&T Summer Nationals.
The three-day event will progress in segments on Friday at noon, Saturday at noon and Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Avery Aquatic Center. The springboard diving events will go through the preliminary, quarterfinal and final rounds on Friday and Saturday while the platform event will take place on Sunday.