AUBURN, Ala. – Conner Pruitt finished third and Logan Andrews fourth to collect Auburn's top finishes on the first day of the three-day Auburn Diving Invitational at the Martin Aquatics Center. Auburn's men competed the 1-meter and the women the 3-meter on Monday.
"I thought the men had a solid day," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "They were consistent in the prelims."
Pruitt scored a 319.20 in finals to after scoring a 307.30 in prelims to qualify fourth.
"Conner stepped up and did his front three-and-a-half to replace a front two-and-a-half pike, so we added a little bit more (degree of difficulty)," Shaffer said. "It was good to see him compete against Juan (Hernandez) and against the people he is going to have to compete against at the conference level."
Andrews was just one spot behind Pruitt, scoring a304.80 in finals after a 261.10 in prelims left him in ninth.
"I thought Logan did a lot better job doing what we are trying to get him corrected on some of his dives in the finals," Shaffer said.
Justin Checchin rounded out Auburn's men's finishes with an eighth-place finish. After scoring a season-best 273.00 in prelims, he torched that score in finals, scoring a personal-best 297.85 in finals.
"I am really pleased with the improvement Justin is making," Shaffer said. "He was so close to getting that Zone score (300), he just needed a little better finish on his back twister, but he did a great job on his back and reverse two-and-a-halves. He was probably one of the few today that was consistent and hit those."
LSU's Matthew McClellan (353.10) and Juan Hernandez (325.60) finished first and second.
Alison Maillard led the women with a sixth-place finish on the 3-meter while Ruther Jerger finished 13th. Maillard had qualified second with a 306.95 and then scored a 281.75 in finals while Jerger had scored a 191.80 during prelims and followed it up with a 189.00 in finals.
"Alison was good on four dives in the prelims and was rough on backs and gainers, and tonight it just wasn't there at all," Shaffer said. "She has a 4.0 in industrial engineering so we'll take that too, but she's better than what she showed today. Sometimes you take a step back to take two steps forward and hopefully that's what it is."
LSU's Elizabeth Cui (339.00) and Florida's Elizabeth Perez (308.35) took the top two spots.
The competition continues with the women's 1-meter and the men's 3-meter on Tuesday and the platform on Wednesday. Tuesday will feature prelims at 11 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m. while Wednesday will consist only of an 11 a.m. session.
Admission to the entire invitational is free to the public.
Live results will be available through divemeets.com.
-- War Eagle –
Pruitt and Andrews lead Tigers on Monday at Auburn Diving Invite
