Morgantown, W.Va. - The Youngstown State men's and women's diving programs performed well at the three-day West Virginia Invite that concluded on Saturday at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park.
The platform diving event on Saturday marked an impressive performance for the Penguins. Simon Iwanonkiw led the men, breaking the school record with a score of 251.20 to place seventh. For the women, freshman Hanna Held impressively placed third out of 23 divers with a score of 211.70. Also competing in the platform dive, Dasha Toth placed 11th with a score of 188.05 while Natalie Weissman placed 18th, scoring a 149.35.
On the first day of competition, the Penguins had a diver advance to the consolation finals in both events: the men's three-meter and women's one-meter dives. In the men's three-meter dive, Iwanonkiw advanced to the consolations with a 13th-place finish in the prelims and a score of 271.25. He placed sixth in the consolation finals, scoring a 257.45. Zachary Lao and Cody Thill rounded out the top-25 spots in the event, finishing 24th and 25th, respectively, with scores of 236.50 and 231.50.
In the women's one-meter dive, Held led the Penguins with a fifth-place finish in the consolation final, scoring a 249.50. In the prelims, she scored a 234.45 to advance with the 11th spot. Ellen Linscheid was the second-highest-scoring Penguin, finishing 20th with a score of 218.60. Emma Schum placed 23rd (215.95), Weissman was 28th (211.35), and Toth finished 40th (199.80).
In the women's three-meter dive, Linscheid led the Penguins with a score of 218.80 to place 22nd while Held was close behind in 24th with a score of 216.15. Schum was the next highest-scoring Penguin, scoring a 214.90 to place 26th. Weissman was 36th with a score of 208.10 while Toth finished 55th, scoring a 186.30.
Lao led the Penguins in the men's one-meter, placing 18th with a score of 236.40, while Iwanonkiw was 24th, scoring a 213.55. Thill finished 30th with a score of 179.25.
In the team event, the YSU men's team of Iwanonkiw, Thill, and Lao placed seventh with a score of 215.05 while the YSU women's team of Held, Toth, and Schum placed ninth, scoring a 213.95.
Up next for the Penguins, the swimmers and divers will be back in action together as they compete at the Miami (OH) Invite from Nov. 30-Dec. 2 at the Nixon Aquatic Center in Oxford, Ohio.
