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The Daily Tar Heel

Both UNC diving teams finish eighth in Purdue University Invitational

Caroline Baldwin

Senior Caroline Baldwin competes in Saturday's meet at Koury Natatorium.

The North Carolina diving team sent 10 divers to the Purdue University Invitational, an event which featured eight different schools this past weekend in West Lafayette, Ind. 

The No. 22 men’s and No. 21 women’s diving team each finished in eighth place with 84 and 109 points, respectively.

What happened?

On Thursday, senior Maria Lohman and graduate Elissa Dawson finished first and second respectively in the women’s three-meter diving preliminaries with scores of 342.6 and 333.85. But they ended up sliding down to final ranks of eighth and ninth place in the finals with scores of 274.70 and 270.70.

Ashlynn Peters from Virginia Tech took first place in the finals with a score of 305.65. Overall, the Tar Heels were able to snag 26 points.

In the men’s one-meter diving, graduate Sean Burston and sophomore Gregory Duncan finished fifth and sixth in the finals with scores of 327.25 and 326.90, and junior Bryan Allen finished eighth with a score of 314.8.

Overall, the Tar Heels earned a solid total of 49 points. Joseph Cifelli from Purdue took first place with a score of 402.25 and 20 points.

On Friday in women’s one-meter diving, Elissa Dawson placed fifth for the Tar Heels with a score of 274.55 and 14 points, while Lohman placed 10th with a score of 249.8 and seven points.

Sophomore Emma McPeeters placed 12th with a score of five points. The three gave the Tar Heels a total of 26 points. Morgan Meixner took first place for Purdue with a score of 309.55 and 20 points.

In men’s three-meter diving, Sean Burston, Gregory Duncan and Bryan Allen secured seventh, eighth, and ninth places with scores of 341.25, 334.50, and 332.35, respectively. Bellamy took 11th with a score of 311.55.

The four divers scored 37 points together for North Carolina. Conner James took first place overall for Indiana with a score of 463.8 and 20 points.

On Saturday in the women’s 10-meter platform diving, Elissa Dawson earned second place with a score of 270.75 and 17 points. In men’s 10-meter platform diving, Bryan Allen placed fourth with a score of 333.4 and 15 points, while Devin Ballamy placed 11th with a score of 236.05 and six points for a total of 21 points for North Carolina.

Who stood out?

Dawson and Lohman stood out for the women, both having top 10 finishes all three days, with Dawson improving her rank each time.

For the men, Allen stood out with top-10 finishes each time he competed, with his best finish at fourth place on Saturday. Burston and Duncan also showed consistent success with two top-10 placements.

When was it decided?

After the finals ended on Saturday night, No. 1 Indiana University finished in first place for the women with 896.5 points overall, while No. 3 Florida finished first for the men with 1009 points overall.

Why does it matter?

North Carolina gave a satisfactory overall performance, but did not do very well in the finals, something the Tar Heels can work on as they look to maintain their consistency going forward. The match allowed the top-25 men’s and women’s teams to see what they need to improve on this season, especially with the USA Diving nationals coming up.

When do they play next?

The Tar Heels will swim at the University of Tennessee Invitational from Thursday, Nov. 30 to Saturday, Dec. 2. The divers will compete next at the USA Diving Nationals from Wednesday, Dec. 13 to Tuesday, Dec. 19 in Greensboro.

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@kellie_nattress

sports@dailytarheel.com