Jan. 8, 2007

HONOLULU - The University of Kansas diving team kicked off its annual winter training trip with the University of Hawaii Diving Invitational Jan. 5-6 in Honolulu, Hawaii, hosted by the University of Hawaii-Manoa on the island of Oahu. The Jayhawk divers arrived in Hawaii on Jan. 2 for their nine-day winter training session, three days prior to the eleven-team invitational meet.

Junior Jenny Roberts posted a sixth-place finish in the three-meter competition (268.50 points), a finish that head diving coach Eric Elliott calls Robert's "best three-meter performance" of the season. Roberts finished sixth of 33 divers in the event and wrapped up the second day of competition with an eighth-place victory (230.65 points) on the one-meter board.

Senior Shelby Noonan captured a sixth-place victory in the one-meter competition, posting 233.15 points, while taking a 20^th place finish in the three-meter competition (183.20). Freshman Meghan Proehl placed 13^th on the three-meter board (212.60) and ninth on the one-meter board (225.60).

Sophomore Hannah McMacken and freshman Allison Ho finished 13^th (206.90) and 21^st (164.80) on the one-meter board, respectively, while Ho dove to a score of 177.40 on the three-meter board, good for a 23^rd place finish. McMacken finished 25^th (176.55) in the three-meter competition.

"The team dove very well even though we are not in the peak performance of our training," Elliott said. "We arrived only a couple of days before the meet and did not have a lot of training time before, but it's a great experience for our kids because they can have a little fun while completing a lot of work. They have been working hard for that final push before (Big 12) Conference competition."

The Kansas divers will continue training through Jan. 11 when they return home to take the road to Lincoln, Neb., for a Big 12 Conference dual against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at 2 p.m. on Jan. 13.

For results following the Jayhawk-Husker dual, stay tuned to kuathletics.com.

Hawaii Diving Invitational Participating Teams:

University of Hawaii

University of Kansas

University of Wisconsin

Brigham Young University

Drury

Western Kentucky

Eastern Michigan

University of South Dakota

Minnesota State University

Houston

Hiram College

-KU-