An ASU diver at a meet against Stanford on Jan. 24, 2015 at the Mona Plummer Complex in Tempe. (Ben Moffat/ The State Press)The ASU diving team showed up and excelled at this the USAFA Diving Invitational Friday and Saturday, furthering the case that diving is ASU swim and dive's greatest strength.
The team's consistent performers stepped up and received favorable results in the 3-meter, 1-meter and platform dives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, against divers from many other schools throughout the country.
Freshman David Hoffer placed first out of 27 divers in the men's 3-meter dive with a cumulative score of 370.55 on six dives, sending him to the championship round.
In the championship round, Hoffer placed second out of 12 divers with a score of 353.75, which was about 38 points behind Utah's Jacob Crayne.
In the 1-meter dive, Hoffer finished sixth in the preliminary round with a score of 51.89. While not as good of a finish as his 3-meter performance, it still propelled him to the championship round, where he placed eighth with a score of 49.29.
Hoffer's final event of the invitational was the platform dive, where he did not fare as well as he did in his other two events.
He only mustered a total score of 41.33 for his six dives, leaving him at fifteenth place out of 23 divers and about 17 points away from the first place score of 58.85.
ASU's other freshman phenom, Mara Aiacoboae, competed in the platform and 3-meter dives at this weekend's invitational.
Aiacoboae placed first out of 35 competitors in the platform dive with a score of 313.30 for her five dives, netting an average score of 62.66 per dive and finishing ahead of the second place diver by about 64 points in the total score.
In the women's 3-meter, she finished second out of 51 divers with a cumulative score of 50.13 on her six dives. Competition was tougher in the championship round and although Aiacoboae improved upon her score, her 51.73 was only good enough for fourth place.
ASU senior Hailey Casper also competed in the 3-meter dive, looking to improve on last weekend's success in the event. Casper placed fifth with a score of 48.70 in the preliminary round, which was good enough for a trip to the championship round.
The experienced diver stepped up and placed first in the championship round with a much-improved score of 54.15, which was a good ending to her lone event of the invitational.
Hunter Atha, a junior transfer from Wisconsin, performed fairly well in his only event of the weekend---the platform dive. His six dives totaled 51.46, which put him in fifth place.
After a successful showing for the divers, ASU swim and dive will look to get back on track as a team against the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson on Feb. 7.
Reach the reporter at Justin.Toscano@asu.edu or on Twitter @justintoscano3
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