CLEMSON, S.C. – Head Coach Leslie Hasselbach Adams released the Clemson diving team’s 2015-16 meet schedule on Thursday afternoon. The schedule features 12 regular-season meets, including three home meets at Clemson’s McHugh Natatorium after having just one last season.
“McHugh Natatorium is a great place to host a diving competition,” said Hasselbach Adams. “I am excited that we will be in our ‘home’ three times this year. We have the best fans at our competitions and our team feeds off of their energy.”
The team begins competition for the season on Oct. 23 when it hosts its annual Diving Exhibition at McHugh Natatorium. The unofficial meet gives divers an opportunity to showcase their talents in front of an audience of fans and allows them to do a run-through of optional dives they may wish to exhibit during regular-season competition.
The season officially starts on Oct. 24 when the Tigers travel to Columbia, S.C. to take on the Gamecocks at Carolina Natatorium. The meet highlights a stretch of five consecutive road meets in which Clemson travels to Greensboro, N.C. to face East Carolina and Richmond in a double-dual meet on Nov. 7.
Clemson will send divers to compete in meets at two different locations on Nov. 19-21, the Georgia Tech Invite in Atlanta, Ga. and the Nike Cup in Chapel Hill, N.C. The team travels to Athens, Ga. for the UGA Diving Invite on Jan. 3-5 to wrap up its five-meet road stint.
The Tigers return home on Jan. 9 to host Georgia Southern in their second home meet, before splitting and traveling to face Arkansas and NC State on Jan. 23 in Fayetteville, Ark. and Greensboro, N.C., respectively. Clemson concludes the regular season with three meets, returning to McHugh Natatorium on Jan. 30 to dive against JMU, while selected divers compete on Jan. 29-30 at the Shamrock Invite in South Bend, Ind. Finally, the team travels to Harrisonburg, Va. on Feb. 6 to conclude their regular season at the Dukes Diving Invite.
“We are excited for our upcoming season. This schedule will provide our ladies with many excellent competitive opportunities both at home and away,” said Hasselbach Adams.
Postseason competition begins with a trip to Greensboro, N.C. for the ACC Championships on Feb. 17-20. Divers who earn qualifying scores in the preceding meets will then take part in the NCAA Zone B Championships on Mar. 7-9, in Atlanta, Ga., with NCAA Championships following Zones on Mar. 16-19, also in Atlanta, Ga.
Beginning its fourth season as a program, Clemson continues to build upon the success of previous seasons while looking to garner more national recognition in the process. Rising junior Sarah Braun became the program’s first-ever national qualifier when she placed third in the one-meter and sixth in the three-meter at the 2015 USA Diving National Preliminary Zone E Championships in Beaverton, Ore. in June. Braun leads a group of experienced divers, including seniors Tabitha Banks, Megan Helwagen, Juliana Melchionda and Jessica Resler; fellow junior Danielle Reitsma; and sophomores Allison Brophy, Hannah Donovan and Megan Jendra. Braun, Brophy, Donovan and Helwagen were all participants in last year’s NCAA Zone B Championships, with Braun and Helwagen advancing to the finals in two and one events, respectively.
The team also boasts a group of five talented freshmen, some of whom garnered national recognition before their arrival at Clemson and are promising prospects for the program. Sarah Blank, Jaya Brown, Morgan Fiske, Caylin Hirapara and Erin Lee round out the team of 14 Tigers and will play key roles in the program’s successes for the upcoming season.
April 17, 2024
