Stella Fairbanks on Preseason Watchlist
The Coyotes swim and dive teams began their season this month on Oct. 6 in Mankato, Minnesota. The Coyotes defeated Minnesota State University 192-108 in a women’ only meet.
The Coyotes dive team was led by senior diver Stella Fairbanks as she finished in fourth place in the women’s 3 meter dive with a score of 224.05 against Minnesota State.
Earlier this season, Fairbanks was nominated to the Summit League preseason watchlist. Fairbanks is one of four Coyotes to make this list, along with graduate Zach Kopp, freshman Charlie Matthews and junior Emily Kahn.
Fairbanks said the nomination is an honor for her with the amount of talent in the Summit League.
“For me, it’s an honor to be part of that list because there are a lot of good divers within our conference and other teams,” Fairbanks said. “I just think that it’s an awesome accomplishment to have.”
Fairbanks said she has a lot of optimism for the remainder of the season. As she described the expectations for the entire dive team this season, Fairbanks used one word: “Greatness.”
“We’re gonna try our best, and we’re gonna give other teams a fight,” Fairbanks said. “We’ve come a long way, and I know that it’s been kind of a challenge. I think that we really learned to adapt and to roll with the punches, and I think it’s going to be a good year for us.”
Fairbanks said the dive team at USD is truly a family and they make the atmosphere great.
“We are like a family, and teams like that are few and far between, so it’s a really awesome atmosphere to be able to do a sport that you love and to be with people that you love too,” Fairbanks said.
Fairbanks said this will be her last season and wants to get everything she can out of it.
“I’m really just trying to take it all in because it is my senior year,” Fairbanks said. “I just want to really enjoy diving and being part of a team because this will be the last time that I’ll be in a sport.”
The Coyote’s and Fairbanks’s season continues on Oct. 14 with a meet against the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Photo Credit: Aaron Packard | USD Athletics
