Sports Reporter
In their final swim meet of the season, the Maverick men’s and women’s teams performed particularly well and both were able to place in the top five in the 2012 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships held in San Antonio, Texas on Feb. 15. Along with impressive conference finishes, both teams also had national qualifiers for the NCAA. Sophomore Brock Martin will be competing in nationals for the second year in a row for the men’s team and freshmen Brooke Lera, Amanda Jennings, and Savannah Craft will be representing the Mavericks.
Martin will compete at Nationals for the second time in his young career. At the conference meet, Martin took first place in both the one-meter board with a score of 511.70 and the three-meter board by scoring 563.05, which broke the previous RMAC record that stood for over 30 years. Martin was honored as the 2012 RMAC Men’s Diver of the Meet as well as RMAC Men’s Diver of the Year. Martin will be competing in both the one-meter and three-meter dives at the Nationals competition.
Brooke Lera qualified in the first event of the day with a score of 407.65 on the three-meter board. Although it was her first trip to the RMAC tournament, she kept her same practice routine and did not lose focus.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Lera said. “But I knew I wanted to qualify and place in the top three so it was pretty exciting to do that.”
Lera came to CMU with plenty of experience on the diving board and it showed during the meet. Along with her first place finish in the first event, she also placed third in the one-meter event with a score of 416.00. Lera explained that the preparation for both events was difficult.
“It was not as physically tough as it was mentally,” Lera said. “Working on both boards was a little stressful for me at times.”
Her goal for her inaugural national meet will be to place in the top eight for her event.
Jennings, who hails from Colorado Springs, earned a spot at Nationals on the one-meter board with a score of 393.90 and the three-meter board with a score of 378.15.
“I didn’t expect to qualify,” Jennings said. “It was like a dream come true to me. I didn’t do it until my last chance and was so happy to have achieved my goals.”
For the competition, she plans on keeping the same practice routine while adding some newer and more challenging dives. Her goal for national meet is to place in the top 16.
Craft was able to qualify for Nationals on the 1-meter board in the last event of the tournament with at score of 403.90. After scoring slightly lower in her first attempt, Craft knew she could perform better and was able to capitalize on her second try.
“I was really happy with my results,” Craft said. “Nationals has been my goal since the start of the season and the 1-meter dive is my best event.”
Before swimming, Craft had 14 years of experience in gymnastics, but was forced to quit because of injuries. However, the ability she gained from gymnastics helped her perform well on the diving board and get noticed by coaches.
“My high school diving coach spotted me during my swimming class in middle school,” Craft said. “Once she saw what I was able to do, she told me I should join the team as a diver.”
Craft will take her gymnastics background to the one-meter board next week for Nationals.
The Mavericks travel to Dallas on Mar. 14 for the National tournament.
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