LARAMIE – The diving board dimensions, and platform heights measure the same. The aerial maneuvers and perfect entry splashes provide the same thrills at 7,220 feet.
 
But moving from her home in Canary Islands, Spain, to join the Wyoming swimming & diving program was a daring and unfamiliar leap for Alicia Gonzalez.
 
"Definitely the weather, like, that was my first time seeing snow," Gonzalez said when asked about the transition during her freshman year at UW in 2022-23. "It's always in the 70s in the Canary Islands. So, I'm not used to it at all."
 
In the warmth of the pool, Gonzalez fits in seamlessly with the Cowgirls divers while competing in the 1- and 3-meter events along with platform. She earned all-Mountain West honors during her first two seasons and has been named the conference's diver of the week four times this season as a junior.
 
"In the last few years, her competitive knowledge base has greatly improved to where she came from," UW diving coach Mark Murdock said. "(In Spain) they were competing maybe three times a year and coming into NCAAs it's 12 to 15 different competitions a year. So, it took her some time to get used to that and she's really starting to figure out how to turn it on when the competition starts."
 
At the recent Air Force Diving Invitational, which had a competitive field that included divers from the Big 12 and SEC, Gonzalez finished second off the 1-meter springboard with a NCAA Zone E qualifying score of 284.70. She also took fourth in the 3-meter, scoring 299.15, which was also a Zone qualifying score.
 
"I'm really excited this year because I feel I have more chances (to win) than the years before," Gonzalez said. "I feel way more ready and more confident with my dives."
 
Murdock said Gonzalez's leadership has helped fuel the Cowgirls' team success this season and set the standard.
 
"As just a teammate being able to show the other girls the work ethic and everything it takes to get to that point," Murdock said. "She might not be the most vocal at times, but her actions do kind of speak to what she can do and what is expected here."
 
Gonzalez and the Cowgirls will compete at the MW Championships starting Wednesday in Houston. UW's swimmers & divers will be thinking about the looming one-year anniversary of the tragic car accident that took the lives of three teammates – Charlie Clark, Luke Slabber and Carson Muir – on Feb. 22, 2024.
 
"Personally, I just want to do well for them," Gonzalez said. "And of course never forget about that, always keep them in mind and just honor them in a way."
 
Gonzalez enters the MW Swimming & Diving Championships with the top score this season in the 3-meter (336.30), ahead of San Diego State's Valentina Lopez Arevalo (322.73). Gonzalez has the second-best 1-meter score (290.40) behind Arevalo (296.50).
 
"My goals are just to have fun and embrace every little bump on the road," said Gonzalez, who hasn't posted a score in platform diving entering the MW Championships. "And (make the) finals, for sure."
 
Murdock, who returned to UW to join head coach Dave Denniston's staff 2022, won conference titles for the Cowboys in the 3-meter event and platform during his career from 2007-11. He understands what Gonzalez needs to do this week to bring home MW championship hardware.
 
"She must be consistent," Murdock said. "That's really what it comes down to and that's what it always comes down to for diving is being able to hit six dives up and down on your head. She has a lot of big competition coming into the Mountain West so it's going to take something special for her to do it but we're excited to see it happen."
 
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