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Coming off an enormously successful weekend, the UCLA divers will head east to compete in the Minnesota Diving Invite this weekend. Coach Tom Stebbins will bring his four most seasoned divers to have the best shot at a successful outing.

“I chose to bring those with the most competitive experience,” Stebbins said. “They’re used to the high level of competition we’ll be seeing.”

Seniors Amanda Blong and Sara Clark and sophomores Marisa Samaniego and Tess Schofield will represent the Bruins in Minnesota. Each had a phenomenal performance last weekend against Arizona State and Arizona.

Clark led the way, winning three out of four possible events. She posted victories in three-meter competition against both the Sun Devils and the Wildcats and in the one-meter event against the Wildcats. The remaining one-meter event was won by Samaniego.

“We’ve proven that we can do the dives,” Clark said. “We just need to do the same things we’ve been doing before.”

Samaniego placed in every event last weekend while Schofield competed in exhibition. Blong came in third place in one-meter competition against both Arizona and Arizona State and placed second in the three-meter event. Yet even while these four Bruins consistently fill out the top three spots, they continue to work to improve and be competitive in meets such as the Minnesota Invite.

“We’ve been adding some dives with a higher degree of difficulty,” Clark said.

The Bruins will face 10 teams, including host school Minnesota as well as Wisconsin, Tennessee, Notre Dame and Nebraska.

“We’ll be seeing a different level of competition,” Stebbins said. “We’re going to be exposed to some teams that we normally don’t see until NCAAs.”

Perhaps more important than exposing themselves to teams they will compete against in the future is the Bruins’ opportunity to compete in Minnesota, the site of the NCAA Championships in March. The trip will give Blong, Clark, Samaniego and Schofield valuable experience, and the Bruins will look to these four divers to make major contributions in the tournament.

“This weekend will definitely help us improve as a team,” Stebbins said. “We’ll compete, then look to see what we need to work on and where we need to be at the end of the year.”