Dec. 17, 2017
Alison Maillard and Pete Turnham each earned second place finishes on the first day of the three-day Auburn Diving Invitational at the Martin Aquatics Center on Sunday afternoon. Maillard earned her runner-up finish in the women's 1-meter competition while Turnham did it in the men's 3-meter competition.
"I like what happened today," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "I think it will set us up for a good day tomorrow."
Maillard, a sophomore who had just missed a personal best during prelims with a 301.20, finished second in finals with a 288.80.
Elizabeth Cui of LSU took first with a 318.05.
"I was real pleased with Alison," Shaffer said. "We are working on a difficult reverse two-and-a-half. She under-rotated a little bit in the first list and had a much better start in the second list and over-rotated, but it's getting to be a dive that I think she can score a lot of points on.
"Alison's second list, uncharacteristically, she did a really poor front two-and-a-half pike which is a very good dive for her," Shaffer said. "Those are experiences that we can build on and make us stronger as the season goes on."
Turnham, a senior, scored a 373.55, which was just over nine points shy of a career-best, to capture his highest finish on 3-meter at an invitational this season. His best score came on his second dive, a forward two-and-a-half somersault two twist pike, in which he scored a 76.50.
"Pete was real solid again in the finals," Shaffer said. "Juan (Hernandez) is an outstanding diver and he didn't open the door for us."
Hernandez won with a 482.95.
Scott Lazeroff, a junior, finished fourth with a 359.50 and freshman Logan Andrews was seventh with a 328.95.
"I think we're getting better," Shaffer said. "Scott was close but was a little sloppy on some finishes that we want to clean up. Everybody else is showing improvements in various dives."
Turnham was second out of prelims after posting a 354.85, Lazeroff was third at 354.15 and Andrews fourth with a 327.50.
Junior Justin Checchin was 13th after prelims with a 249.20 and freshman Zach Richards was 14th (248.95). In the finals, Checchin moved up to 12th with a season-best 278.55 while Richards fell to 15th (261.95).
Freshman Erin Norton scored a 235.30 in prelims to finish seventh after the first six dives and then posted a 227.10 in finals to finish 10th.
Day two of the competition takes place on Monday beginning at 11 a.m.
The schedule for the rest of the competition is as follows:
Monday ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 11 a.m. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Women's 3-meter prelims; men's 1-meter prelims, men's 1-meter finals
Monday ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 5 p.m. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Women's 3-meter finals
Tuesday ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" 11 a.m. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" Men's and women's platform
Admission is free.
Live scoring is available on divemeets.com throughout the invitational.