Renner Finishes Fourth on 1-Meter, Vols Win Team Event During Invite Day 1

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – UT posted a strong start to the Tennessee Diving Invitational on Monday, as three Lady Vols competed in the 1-meter final while the Vols won a new team-style event to kick off the first day of the invite at Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center.

On the women's 1-meter, Elle Renner posted the top finish for the Lady Vols, taking fourth with a season-best mark of 274.85. Kara Holt (255.90) and Madison Reese (234.25) also qualified for the finals, placing eighth and 12th, respectively. Emily Ann Wolfson finished 14th overall with a score of 235.70 during preliminaries.

"We were one woman down, but as they say, it was just a next-person-up mentality for us against a pretty solid field," diving coach Dave Parrington said. "For Elle to step up with a season-high score was great to see. Judging was fairly tight and was judged like it would be during NCAAs, so that's a great sign for her. Maddie's coming off being out for a few days, and she's just getting her wheels back under her. I'm pleased with what she did. While it wasn't her season high, I am pleased with Kara's performance. EA was pretty strong in the prelims but came up just short of the finals. I feel like this was a strong day by our women with one person down."

In the men's team event, the Vols came out on top with a score of 400.65. For the team events, three divers from each squad performed a combined six dives (two dives each) to make up a team score. Teams must have at least two dives from the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform. Dillon Richardson represented the Vols on the 1-meter, Matthew Wade dove from the 3-meter and Bryden Hattie rounded things out with the 10-meter platform.

Men's Team Event Results
1. Tennessee (400.65)
2. Alabama (370.15)
3. Missouri (328.95)
4. Auburn (324.65)
5. South Carolina (275.10)
6. Miami (OH) (270.75)

"It was a pretty special moment to be able to host one of the first team events at our invitational," Parrington said. "This could be a part of history, as there is a push by diving coaches nationally to start having team events at NCAA Championships. To get the ball rolling and be a part of that was pretty cool. All the coaches took it very seriously, and the divers went out there and competed. This is what we are about, and this was a great way to get it started. Then we ended up winning the whole thing as well. It was icing on the cake. We had some impressive performances by the guys. I think we averaged 7-7.5s across the board, and then Bryden finished things off with four 8.5s and a 9 on his last dive. Very pleased with our performance."

Tuesday's invite slate features the prelims and finals for the women's 3-meter and the men's 1-meter, beginning at noon.

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Renner Finishes Fourth on 1-Meter, Vols Win Team Event During Invite Day 1

Players Mentioned

Bryden Hattie

Kara Holt

Maddie Reese

Elle Renner

Dillon Richardson

Matthew Wade

Emily Ann Wolfson

University of Tennessee Athletics