FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The University of New Mexico women’s diving team opened a two day quad-meet Friday hosted by Northern Arizona University, taking on NAU, New Mexico State and Boise State in the one-meter dive and three-meter dive.
“I think the girls dove well today,” UNM head diving coach Julie Weddle said. “We still need to spruce up a couple of things, but I think they are ready for the conference championships and we’re excited for the tower tomorrow.”
The meet began with preliminaries for the three-meter dive. Sophomore Natasha Dark was the top-scoring Lobo, placing seventh out of 17 divers with a score of 254.85. Junior Madeline Horner and freshman Hannah Tiendas also made the cut for finals, with Horner scoring a 241.50 and Tiendas scoring a 235.95.
Tiendas led UNM in the three-meter finals, capturing eighth place out of 12 divers with a final score of 254.50. Dark and Horner took 10th and 11th place respectively, with Dark posting a final score of 242.40 and Horner scoring a 223.90.
Things began to look up for the Lobos in the one-meter dive, with five members making the finals. Dark once again led the team in the preliminaries, posting a score of 255.15, good for fourth. Junior Allyson Concepcion and Horner followed the sophomore, placing eighth and ninth with scores of 237.30 and 229.70. Finally, sophomore Valencia McDonald also made the finals with a score of 226.70 and Tiendas posted a score of 214.45.
Dark earned the Lobos’ only top-three on the day, finishing the one-meter dive with a final score of 264.05. Concepcion was close behind, securing fourth with a final score of 254.20. Horner, Tiendas and McDonald rounded out the Lobos’ squad, with Horner taking sixth place (245.60), Tiendas taking eighth (236.20) and McDonald taking 10th (222.10).
The Lobos will be back in action Saturday morning when they compete on platform. Be sure to follow UNM Women’s Swimming and Diving on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to stay up to date throughout the season.