Divers Travel to Missouri for NCAA Zone Diving Championships
3/12/2009 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
March 12, 2009
HOUSTON--The University of Houston divers, Anastasia Pozdniakova, Courtney Forcucci and Jessalyn Almond will compete in the NCAA Zone Diving Championships at the Mizzou Aquatic Center on the campus of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. beginning with the 3-meter diving competition at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
To qualify for the Zones, a score of at least 255.00 on the 1--meter, 260.00 on the platform (five dives) and 270.00 on the 3-meter are required throughout the season. For the championships, the women must score at least a 265.00 on the 1-meter, 280.00 on the 3-meter and 225.00 on the platform (five dives).
During the Conference USA Championships, where the Cougars took second, Pozdniakova was named C-USA Diver of the Meet. She won the 3-meter competition with 397.20 points, setting a meet record. Her point total was the 10th-best finish in school history and highest this season.
On the 1-meter, Pozdniakova took the top spot with 346.10 points. She also won the platform competition with a final score of 277.55, becoming the first diver to win all three diving events since former Cougar Tania Cagnotto in 2006.
Pozdniakova holds the top spot for the 2008-09 1-meter (375.67 points) and 3-meter dive (396.07).
At the C-USA Championships, Forcucci finished second in the 3-meter event with 330.65 points and in the 1-meter event with 283.10 points. She finished in third place with 234.75 points in the platform event.
Forcucci is currently fourth on the 2008-09 C-USA top 10 for 3-meter dive with 318.45, qualifying for the Zone Championships at the Texas A&M Invitational. She is second on the 1-meter chart with 301.58 points.
Almond took fifth with 272.40 points in the 3-meter competition at the C-USA Championships. She had a sixth-place finish in the 1-meter event with 239.45 points. Almond placed fourth in the platform event with 170.60 points.
Almond qualified for the Zone Championships in the 3-meter diving at the LSU Invitational with 286.05 points and the 1-meter against SMU with 267.23 points.
Visit UHCougars.com following the events for complete recap.
The NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will be held in College Station, Texas March 19-21 at Texas A&M. Senior swimmer Sasha Schwendenwein has already qualified to compete in three events.
ZONE DIVING SCHEDULE
Friday
10:00 AM - 12:15 PM: Men's 1-Meter Diving
2:30 PM - 5:00 PM: Women's 3-Meter Diving
Saturday
10:00 AM - 12:15 PM: Women's 1-Meter Diving
2:30 PM - 5:00 PM: Men's 3-Meter Diving
Sunday
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM: Women's Platform
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM: Men's Platform
Players Mentioned
