Luke Sitz and Grant Cates are coming off standout performances as the SMU divers head into this week's NCAA Championships in Atlanta.

The pair of Mustang divers, joining six swimmers, will compete in the 1-meter springboard on Thursday and the 3-meter springboard on Friday, with Cates also competing on the platform Saturday. 

Sitz won gold and bronze in the springboard events at the ACC Championships and followed that by winning both events at the NCAA Zone D Championships earlier this month.

"I tell him all the time, but he's got superpowers," SMU head diving coach Darian Schmidt said. "It's hard to describe, but yeah, he just has that. The talent is there, the spatial awareness, and then just the mind game to compete. Well, he's got all three. And if he's in a meet, he's got a chance to win."

It's not just that Sitz handles pressure well. He welcomes it. The more on the line, the better he performs, a trend backed by his results.

In the last two years, Sitz has been named the ACC Diver of the Week 11 times, won four ACC medals and claimed All-America honors. And this week, he'll have two more opportunities on the national stage.

"I think performing under pressure and viewing pressure as a privilege. I think that helps me a lot whenever I'm training and competing," Sitz said. "So I think coming off a big success, that motivates me more to keep striving further and accomplish something greater."

One of the biggest differences this year for Sitz, aside from having a year of experience, is having a teammate with him. 

Cates bounced back from the ACC Championships with a strong performance at the Zone championships to secure his spot in Atlanta.

"I had a really rough meet at conference, and to be able to go to zones and have a great meet, honestly, probably one of my best this season. It's a big confidence booster after not really knowing where I was at after ACC, so I'm glad, like, it's a good one for me mentally."

Cates also has the benefit of building up to his best event, beginning with springboard before ending on the platform, his specialty.

He finished fourth on the platform at the Zone championships.

"Grant's come in and made his name for himself as a talented freshman going to the big dance," Schmidt said. "He's better as he goes up, but he's going to be able to do all three events. I think that will position him well, just to get a feel of the competition before his priority — being platform — on Saturday."

On the 1- and 3-meter dives, Cates doesn't have the highest degree of difficulty, so he focuses on executing his dives. However, the platform is where it all comes together.

His platform score at Zone would have been good enough to make the final at last year's NCAAs, so that's the goal.

"I definitely want to be in the A Final on platform. That's my event," Cates said. "Obviously I want to do good and put up my best scores of the year on the springboards. I don't know where that's going to put me, but I know that my best on platform will put me in the A Final, so that's where I want to be."

Sitz has his own set of goals. He wants to break his own SMU record and go from the preliminaries to the final. He also knows what he is capable of.

"Obviously trying to go into the final and win," Sitz said. "That's my true goal. That would be amazing. But honestly, I'm just going out there and competing to the best that I can that day. I think that's the most I can do. That's the most I can control. So I think that's my ultimate goal. Is just give 110% no matter how I finish."

They also get the benefit of going together. Last year, Sitz was SMU's lone diver, but this time he has a teammate, and Cates gains experience alongside a veteran.

"Both these guys are excited," Schmidt said. "It's good to have two divers going, sharing a room. All those things, I think, are going to help. They're going to feed off of each other and just have a buddy at the meet, so they're in a good spot."