Three Sun Devil divers competed in national championships this weekend, and although none were able to come away with a victory, there were some impressive results.
ASU sophomore Riley McCormick and freshman Hailey Casper traveled home to Canada to compete in the 2011 Canadian Winter National Championships.
McCormick had a very productive weekend, finishing fifth in the three-meter and second in the 10-meter.
Despite having the highest score in both the preliminary and semi-final rounds, McCormick was unable to come away with the 10-meter victory, but his coach was still impressed.
“It looked like he did pretty good,” ASU head diving coach Mark Bradshaw said.
McCormick, who competed in the 2008 Olympics, is an experienced international diver. Going into the meet there was no question about his nerves, but there were doubts about his health.
McCormick has been nursing a hand injury for several weeks and it was unclear how he would fare in the competition.
Casper, competing in the 3-meter, had her weekend cut short, as she was unable to advance out of the preliminary round. The top 12 divers advance to the next round, but Casper fell short and finished 13th.
Despite the fact that she was unable to advance, Bradshaw was encouraged.
“It’s pretty competitive there,” Bradshaw said. “Basically she was off on one dive.”
ASU junior Cameron Bradshaw was the only Sun Devil competing in the U.S. national championships. He finished 12th in the 3-meter springboard, which was good enough to earn him an automatic invitation to the U.S. diving Olympic trials.
While Mark Bradshaw admitted Cameron’s performance could have been better, he was still very impressed.
“He did a really good job,” Bradshaw said. “I’m very happy for him.”
The result was impressive, but the experience was equally important for Cameron Bradshaw because a diver can never have too much experience competing in high-profile events.
“It’s just another experience for him to [participate] in a big meet,” Mark Bradshaw said.
Cameron Bradshaw, who has only been diving since high school, greatly benefitted from the trip because he has less experience than most of his competitors.
“There’s a tight learning curve because the people [Cameron is] competing against have been diving much longer,” Mark Bradshaw said.
The trio of divers will rejoin their team this week in preparation for their final dual meet of the season against UA next weekend.
Reach the reporter at william.boor@asu.edu
