ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Rutgers sent its No. 6 ranked dive squad to the Navy Invitational this week. The Scarlet Knight divers competed at Lejeune Hall, the site of the NCAA Zone Diving Championships in March, with six RU divers in competition. RU had three place finishes, led by Sephora Ford with two first place showings and a new top-10 mark with the third best platform score in program history.

Rutgers divers competed against competitors from Navy, Villanova, George Washington, NC State and James Madison, with one event will be contested each day.

The Scarlet Knights finished each day with the top diver. Sephora Ford finished first in the 3-Meter and Platform, while Katerina Hoffman won Friday's 1-Meter Dive. RU had two second place finishes (Katerina Hoffman and Bailee Sturgill) and one third place finish (Madilyn Varnum) for a total of six appearances on the podium across nine spots. 

Thursday the event started with the 3-meter dive, with a strong showing from the Scarlet Knights taking the top four spots. Sephora Ford was first with a score of 316.60, Katerina Hoffman was second with a 307.50, Madilyn Varnum placed third at 294.05 and Amelia Scott was fourth with a 280.10.

On Friday, Rutgers competed in the 1-Meter Dive and saw divers placed in the top three spots and well as five of the top eight divers. Katerina Hoffman was first with a 297.80, Bailee Sturgill was second at 281.55 and Amelia Scott was third at 278.05. Madilyn Varnum (sixth) and Gianna Lawrence (eighth) placed as well.

RU had just one entrant in Saturday's Platform Dive. Sephora Ford topped the leaderboard with a new personal best score of 304.30, a mark that is the 3rd best score in program history

Up next for RU is the Minnesota Invitational in two weeks. The full team will head there for competition on December 3-6.