COLUMBUS, Ohio – Five members of the California men's and women's diving team had a strong showing at the Ohio State Fall Invitational at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. Over three days, Cal had four divers advance to the finals in three events, with three individual divers earning top-3 finishes.
 
Sophomore Joshua Thai had a stellar weekend, improving his NCAA Zone qualifying mark in the 3-meter dive and platform dive. He opened the meet advancing to the finals of the 1-meter dive with a preliminary score of 317.95 before taking ninth in the finals  with a score of 301.15. In the 3-meter dive, he took seventh with a season-best dive of 371.20 – an improvement on his previous season high set during the Golden Bears' dual meet against Pittsburgh in October. In his first platform dive of the season, Thai captured third out of 20 divers with a career-best score of 357.20, an NCAA Zone qualifying mark.
 
Freshman Geoff Vavitsas also competed in three events. He opened the meet taking 10th in the 1-meter dive, finishing with a score of 293.30 in the finals. In the 3-meter dive, he captured third out of 12 divers in the finals with a score of 379.00 – improving on his NCAA Zone qualifying mark. In the platform, he finished in fourth, just five points behind Thai, with an NCAA Zone qualifying mark of 352.10.
 
Conrad Eck made his collegiate debut, diving in all three events. He scored 267.70 in the preliminaries of the 1-meter dive, 240.15 in the 3-meter dive prelims, and 290.45 in the finals of the platform dive.
 
On the women's side, the Bears sent a pair of freshmen to the meet. Ariana Drake made her collegiate debut, competing in all three events. In the 3-meter dive, she captured third out of 12 divers in the finals with a score of 291.50 – an NCAA qualifying mark. She took sixth in the finals of the 1-meter dive with a score of 256.90. In the platform, she finished fifth with a score of 213.50.
 
Caroline Li took fifth in the 3-meter dive with a score of 249.45. Her score of 268.15 in the prelims was her second-best score in the event this season. In the 1-meter dive, she took fourth with a score of 266.45. In her first platform dive of the season, she took sixth with a score of 211.35.
 
The men's and women's teams will return to action Nov. 29-Dec. 2 when they travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for the Minnesota Invitational at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center. It will be the final event of the fall season for both teams.
 
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