Both a San Diego State diver and a coach were recognized with conference honors Thursday, adding to the swim and dive team’s list of accolades in recent years.
The conference office announced that Valentina Lopez Arevalo had earned Mountain West Diver of the Year, while coach Roland McDonald won Dive Coach of the Year.
This is the first conference postseason award for Lopez Arevalo in her career. Upon receiving the recognition, she joined a distinctive group of Aztecs – at least one SDSU swimmer or diver has won a Swimmer of the Year or Diver of the Year award since 2018.
A native of Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, Lopez Arevalo was the only conference diver to qualify for the NCAA Championships after finishing sixth on the 3-meter springboard at the NCAA Zone E Championships earlier in March.
In February, Lopez Arevalo was named conference Diver of the Meet after helping the Aztecs capture their fourth consecutive conference championship and sixth in the last seven years.
The Aztec senior earned 92 points across three events at the MW Championships; that marked the highest individual total among her competitors.
She took home gold medals in the 3-meter and platform events while winning a silver medal on the 1-meter board.
McDonald won the same award last year and now has been honored with it a total of four times in his 15 seasons at SDSU. Only two other coaches in conference history have matched that number of honors.
Under McDonald’s guidance, Alina Skrocki and Summer Westmoreland also received all-conference recognition at the meet with a pair of top-eight placements.
Prior to his arrival at SDSU, McDonald was a three-time Diving Coach of the Year in the former Colonial Athletic Association at George Mason University.
