FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – The NM State dive team opened their weekend stay in Arizona on Friday as they competed alongside divers from host Northern Arizona, UC Davis, Fresno State, Idaho, and Colorado Mesa at the Lumberjack Invitational.
 
The Aggie women began the three-day competition on the 3-meter boards where senior Italia Aranzabal led the Aggies with a 12^th-place finish. Aranzabal posted an average round score of 39.06 to finish the day with a final score of 234.35.
 
Meanwhile, Kate Malinowski turned in a final score of 205.95 to also earn a spot inside the top 20, finishing 18^th. Malinowski landed just one spot ahead of fellow NM State diver Jordan Okamoto whose score of 200.10 was good for 19^th. Lily Ellis' performance placed the fourth Aggie among the top 20 as she finished with a total score of 197.75 to sit one spot behind Okamoto.
 
Casey Schmidt and Megan Ono also competed on Friday morning, finishing in 24^th (191.90) and 29^th (172.35), respectively.
 
The event was ultimately won by UC Davis' Sydney Wren who finished with a preliminary score of 300.75 while posting a 282.95 in the finals.
 
QUOTABLE | HEAD DIVING COACH ZACH HAWLEY
"Today we showed lots of progress. Nearly all of the athletes improved their scores from our last competition. Freshmen Jordan Okamoto made nearly a 40-point improvement from her last 3m event.
 
"I can tell the athletes are gaining confidence in themselves, which goes a long way in the process of their development."
 
UP NEXT
NM State will continue to compete at the Lumberjack Invite tomorrow when they participate in the 1-meter event beginning with prelims at 10:30 a.m. MT.
 
Live results can be found here.