COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — One day after Natasha Dark finished in the top 10 with an eighth-place finish in the 1-meter dive at the Air Force Invitational, Jocelyn Gallais did the exact same thing, finishing eighth in the 3-meter dive, highlighting a second straight solid day at Cadet Natatorium.
The Air Force Diving Invitational finishes on Saturday at 9 a.m. with the platform dive.
Gallais and Dark, who finished 17th, both advanced out of the preliminary rounds, but neither could get into the semifinals. Gallais was coming off a season-best performance in the 3-meter at Nevada, and she continued her strong run. She opened with a big score of 50.40 on her forward 2 ½ somersault pike, good for second-best among the 41 divers.
She had two other dives that finished way up the leaderboard, as her back 1 ½ somersault 1 ½ twist free was the fourth-best dive and reverse 1 ½ somersault 1 ½ twist free was sixth. Gallais scored 267.25 for the meet to finish eighth.
Dark also had three top-10 dives, finishing fourth with her forward 2 ½ somersault pike, fifth with her inward 2 ½ somersault tuck, and eighth with her back 1 ½ somersault 1 ½ twist free. Dark would have easily had a top-10 finish herself, but her opening dive missed the mark, and scored about 30 points lower than normal.
Hannah Teindas finished 19th overall, with a pair of top-10 dives, and Sara Rogers and Daphne Scheck finished 27th and 28th respectively. Rogers’ best dive as her forward 2 ½ somersault pike, which was eighth, while Scheck’s best was a reverse 2 ½ somersault tuck, which was 11th.
Saturday’s final event is the platform dive. Dark has UNM’s best score in the platform with a 210.20 score.
Gallais Earns Top 10 Finish at AFA
