GRINNELL, Iowa – Coming off the heels of a terrific SCIAC Championships performance, Caltech saw three of its divers, junior Jana Woo (Saratoga, Calif. / Monta Vista), first-year Ava Balanon (Vacaville, Calif. / Buckingham Collegiate Charter Academy), and first-year Anthony Wang (San Jose, Calif. / Evergreen Valley) travel out to Grinnell, Iowa to take part in the NCAA Diving Regionals.
On Friday, the women stepped up to the one-meter board amongst a pool of 23 total divers from across the region. With a performance scoring 354.40 across 11 dives, Woo came away with 14th place, performing stronger than four other SCIAC rivals participating at the meet as well. In those 11 attempts, she managed to score in the top 10 divers for five rounds, including earning 2nd in round one to open the event. Balanon also managed to score 334.60 in her 11 dives with four top 10 finishes of her own, a performance that earned her 20th.
Meanwhile, Wang competed in the three-meter diving competition on the men's side on Friday. After managing to reach Regionals in his first year, he was able to notch a 342.00 on the scoreboard. His most impressive dives of the day included a 36.75 in round four, and a 44.55 in round 10, earning him 10th and 11th place in each round respectively.
On Saturday Wang took on the one-meter board where he competed in a very talented men's field. The first-year ended up placing 19th in the event with a total score of 301.60 points where he got better as the day went on. Wang finished off the competition strong with four of his five last dives scoring 30 or more points. His highest-scoring dives of the day came in rounds seven and eight where he scored a 35.65 and a 37.20.
On the women's side of events for Saturday was the three-meter diving competition where Blanon and Woo had great days for themselves. Starting with Woo, she placed seventh in the competition with a total score of 394.40 points. Woo channeled the old "save the best for last" adage in this event with her two best dives coming in rounds 10 and 11. In round 10 she scored 46.80, her highest of the competition, and in round 11 she scored 43.20.
As for Balanon, her day was also very impressive as she finished right under fellow Beaver Woo for eighth place in the 22-person field with a score of 392.25 points. Balanon had three first-place round finishes which came in rounds five, eight, and ten. In round five, she scored 43.20, in round eight she scored a meet-high 53.20, and in round ten she scored 49.20. Both Woo and Balanon finished Saturday placing over twice as high as they did during Friday's one-meter event.
An impressive NCAA Diving Regionals performance from the three Beavers who represented Caltech very well on the national stage. That will conclude the 2024-25 Swim & Dive season for Head Coach Andrew Brabson and his team. The Swim & Dive program will be back for the 2025-26 season.
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