Colorado State University’s dive team competed at the United States Air Force Academy this past weekend Feb. 2-4. The Rams were outnumbered for the entire meet, forcing them to place mostly in the bottom half of the competition each day.

The Ram’s highest-scoring divers were Braeden Shaffer on the first and second days of competition and Jessica Albanna on the final day of the competition. Shaffer placed 16th on the 3-meter springboard and 16th on the 1-meter springboard. Albanna placed 17th on the platform.

Overall, CSU scored well. While they may have not performed as well as in previous competitions, the Rams were scoring moderately high in some events this meet. Shaffer placed 16th out of 46 divers on the 3-meter springboard and 16th out of 43 divers on the 1-meter springboard.

“It doesn’t feel real yet. I think that I’m just having such a great year that I feel like I’m just getting started in my success in diving, and so it doesn’t feel real.” -Jessica Albanna, senior CSU diver

Albanna then placed 17th out of 30 divers on the 1- and 5-meter platforms. As a senior, Albanna wanted to end this meet strong and was finally able to pull her diving around and be the top scorer for CSU on the platform.

“I think it was a pretty solid meet, but there’s definitely some things that I wish I could’ve improved on in this meet,” Albanna said.

As a senior, Albanna wanted to end the season strong, and while the Rams’ performance during this meet may not have been their best, it will be good preparation for their meet against the University of Denver and the Mountain West Conference Championships. 

When asked about how she thought the meet went, Albanna said, “(The) meet wasn’t perfect, but it wasn’t horrible, and I think it just really prepared us for conference, and that’s the most important thing.” 

Despite it being the last semester of her senior year, Albanna says it hasn’t really set in.

“It doesn’t feel real yet,” she said. “I think that I’m just having such a great year that I feel like I’m just getting started in my success in diving, and so it doesn’t feel real.”

To end her season, Albanna wants to score on all three events: platform, 1-meter springboard and 3-meter springboard.

“Making consoles in at least one or two of those (events) would be awesome as well,” Albanna said.

The Rams only have four divers on their roster, with one diver not currently diving. The lack of depth in CSU’s roster means the Rams aren’t able to contend with larger schools like the University of Utah or Texas A&M University.

Day 2️⃣

➡️ AFA Diving Invite
📍 Air Force Academy
🕐 10 AM
📈https://t.co/rslHTXsFUb#Stalwart pic.twitter.com/jiFEmurndT

— Colorado State Swim & Dive (@CSUSwimDive) February 3, 2023

One of those four divers is Maggie Di Scipio, a first-year diver for the Rams.

“It’s definitely been an adjustment,” Di Scipio said. “I’ve been diving for almost 17 years now I think, so it was hard to go from club practices to collegiate level.”

With the small size of CSU’s roster, the team gets really close and provides an opportunity for the older divers to be mentors to the new divers.

“Just to not be too hard on yourself, and I have three years ahead of me, and I’ve already made so much progress,” Di Scipio said about advice that’s been given to her by the older divers.

The Rams are almost done with their 2022-2023 season with only an invitational at the University of Denver before the Mountain West Championships in Houston. CSU will compete at the University of Denver Feb. 10-11 as a last-chance meet before the Mountain West Championships.

Reach Emma Askren at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @emma_askren.