Diving heads out for Pac-10 Championships

The Arizona State University diving team will travel to the Pacific Northwest to Federal Way, Wash., for the 2010 Pacific-10 Conference Diving Championships. Held at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Complex, the diving competition starts Feb. 25 and will conclude Feb. 28. Live Streaming is available on www.pac-10.org.

The schedule
Thursday: Men's 3-meter, Women's 1-meter
Friday: Men's 1-meter, Women's 3-meter
Saturday: Platform Tower

All is well at the diving well
ASU head diving coach Mark Bradshaw has stated that this team is by far the best he has had in his 13 years in Tempe. With three 2008 Olympians headlining the team and two strong returnees in Brittany Jumer and Cameron Bradshaw, the team has proven to be one of the toughest in the conference. Elina Eggers and the younger Bradshaw have both been named Pac-10 Diver of the Month this season while Constantin Blaha and Eggers have been selected as ASU Athletes of the Week.

Elite Elina
Sophomore Eggers has already shown that she is amongst the Pac-10's elite. Eggers has swept the springboard events against powerhouses such as Cal, UCLA and Arizona and has won at least one board in dual meets versus USC and Stanford. Eggers also broke a five-year standing 1-meter record earlier this season. While she has been outstanding on the springboards this season, her best event is the 10-meter platform, an event she was a finalist in the 2008 Olympics. She crushed the competition on the tower at the Wildcat Invitational and will be able to showcase the event again at the Pac-10 Championships.

Canada's finest
Currently ranked eighth in the world, Riley McCormick looks to be a force to be reckoned with on the 10-meter platform and on the springboards. McCormick, who came to ASU as a platform specialist, has become quite the springboarder under Coach Bradshaw. Not only did he recently win the 10-meter at Canada's Winter Nationals, he also placed fourth on the 3-meter. McCormick won the platform at the Wildcat Invitational and has swept the springboard events against Cal.

Cuckoo for Coco
Due to NCAA eligibility rules, Blaha was forced to sit out the fall semester but has made quite the splash on the team. He swept the diving events in his first week of competition and was named ASU Athlete of the Week for his effort. Blaha was a 2008 Olympian for his native of Austria.

Experience matters
While a lot of the spotlight has been on the Sun Devils' three Olympians, Cameron Bradshaw and Jumer have put quietly put forth very strong seasons as well. Jumer has consistently challenged Eggers for top spots in dual meets and has scored higher than several tough divers from Arizona, Cal, and UCLA. Bradshaw won the 1-meter at the Wildcat Invitational and has scored higher than teammates McCormick and Blaha in several competitions.

Next up
The diving team will head out to Austin, Texas, for the NCAA Zone E Diving Meet in attempts to qualify for the NCAA Championships.