Maillard, Turnham each pick up second place finishes at Auburn Diving Invite

Maillard, Turnham each pick up second place finishes at Auburn Diving InviteMaillard, Turnham each pick up second place finishes at Auburn Diving Invite

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.

2017 AU Diving Invite - Day 1