Hawaii’s Frieson Adds Second Zone E Title, ASU’s Benedetti Claims First

Air Force: Second Day Wraps Up at 2009 NCAA?Zone E?Diving Regionals
Junior David Arlington (Eagle River, Alaska) led Air Force in the men’s 3-meter dive on day two of the 2009 NCAA?Zone E Diving Regionals, being held at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, on the campus of the University of Texas.

Arlington registered a score of 279.90 in the preliminary round of the event to advance to the finals, before placing 14th with a score of 552.20. In addition, classmate Kyle Van Valkenburg (Tucson,?Ariz.) also competed Friday, finishing 20th overall with a preliminary mark of 241.90.

Michele Benedetti of Arizona State captured the title in the men’s 3-meter springboard, while Hawaii’s Emma Friesen captured her second zone championship in as many days, winning the women’s 1-meter event. Benedetti, the defending zone champion on 3-meters, registered a score of 807.95. Arizona’s Ben Grado, who claimed second at 1-meter yesterday, was the runner-up on the men’s 3-meter board with a mark of 761.55, while Dwight Dumais of Stanford, the 1-meter champion, finished third with a score of 759.55.

Friesen, the winner of yesterday’s women’s 3-meter event, added a title on the 1-meter springboard, registering a score of 591.40. USC’s Victoria Ishimatsu, the third-place finisher at 3-meters, took second on the 1-meter board with a mark of 572.10, while Carmen Stellar of Stanford placed third (541.90).

The Zone E?meet wraps up Saturday with the men’s and women’s platform events. At the conclusion of the meet, this year’s NCAA qualifiers (six men and seven women) will be announced.

Utah: Divers Unable to Get Past Preliminaries at Diving Championships
The Utah women’s diving team competed on 1-meter during the second day of the Zone E Diving Championships, but failing to get past the preliminaries in event.

Kwan Ling Yu (Yuen Long, Hong Kong) was the top Utah finisher for the second time this week. Her score of 217.15 was 24th overall, but wasn’t enough for her to get into the final round. Jessica Schenk (Park City, Utah) finished in 29th with her score of 207.90. Anna Braszkiewicz (Warsaw, Poland) scored 190.35 in the 1-meter dive, putting her in 35th place overall.

Yu will compete in the platform dive tomorrow in the final day of the championships.

Wyoming: Diving Continues Zone Championships
The Wyoming diving team had strong performances on day two of the 2009 NCAA Zone "E" Championships in Austin, Texas on Friday. Three Cowboys made the final round on three-meter and one Cowgirl on one-meter.

On the men’s side of the meet, senior Tyler Miller had the highest finish for the Cowboys as he placed ninth with a final score total of 599.40. Sophomore Mark Murdock was close behind Miller in 10th with his score of 595.65. Fellow Sophomore Kyle Bogner also was also in the final round and finished in 15th after posting a score of 545.60.

“The men did pretty well today. It was a great accomplishment for the three of them to make the final round,” said UW diving coach Ben Herdt. “Tyler and Mark were right next to each other and finished higher than anyone else from the Mountain West Conference so that is always a good thing.”

For the Cowgirls, junior Stephanie Ortiz was the only UW diver to make the final round on the one-meter springboard. Ortiz finished the day in seventh place with a score of 502.35. Junior Emily Huth was unable to make the final round and finished in 21st with a score of 219.60, while sophomore Allie Smith was 28th with 209.35 points.

“Emily gets the Cowgirl-Up award for coming back a day after an injury and competed very well today,” said Herdt. “Stephanie also did well and gained great experience. I feel very good about Emily and Stephanie being seniors next year with their experience.”

The Wyoming divers will have one more day of competition at the zone championships. Tomorrow both the Cowboys and Cowgirls will dive on the platform event. Following the conclusion of tomorrow’s platform, the NCAA qualifiers from Zone "E" will be announced.