TUCSON, Ariz. – Lana Christensen placed 10th on platform for Northern Arizona diving during the final day of competition at the 2nd Annual Wildcat Diving Invitational. The Lumberjacks concluded their first of two diving invitationals this season with at least one diver in the top 10 on the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform including Taryn Harris' fourth place finish on the 1-meter on Saturday.

“This is why we go to meets like this,” said diving head coach Nikki Huffman. “We need tougher competition in addition to our dual meet schedule. These are the same caliber of divers we will face at the conference level, and we will probably see many of these divers at [the NCAA Zone Championships.] It is good for us to get opportunities to compete, see where we stand and find out what we need to do to get ready for the rest of the season.”

On Sunday, five NAU divers competed on platform in a field of 20 with Christensen earning the Lumberjacks top result. The junior from Casper, Wyo., scored 183.45 for her best finish of the weekend. Megan Collier placed a spot behind Christensen in 11th place (174.65), Cassie Anderson finished 13th (158.60), Kristy Ardavanis placed 15th (154.65) and Holly Frost rounded out the Lumberjack divers in 17th place (153.20).

Eight of the 12 teams at this weekend's meet entered at least one diver in Sunday's platform competition.

Overall, the Lumberjacks had a strong showing in their first big meet facing national competition with teams representing the Big Ten, Pac-10 and Mountain West Conferences to name a few.

Junior Taryn Harris' preliminary score on 3-meter (285.25) was an NCAA Zone Qualifying score and her final score on 1-meter (268.45) was an NCAA Zone Qualifying score as well. Also, freshman Kristy Ardavanis had a breakout weekend with impressive results in all three events.

“In general I was happy with all the results,” Huffman said. “Kristy [Ardavanis] being a freshman, going into her first big college invite and being in the consolation finals on both boards was great to see. She did a really nice job staying consistent and plugging away all weekend.”

NAU swimming and diving will resume its dual meet schedule on Saturday, December 19 against Arizona State and New Mexico State in Tempe, Ariz. The Lumberjacks will swim against Arizona State in a straight dual meet and race against New Mexico State in a non-scoring competition.

Teams at 2nd Arizona Diving Invitational: Air Force, Arizona, Arizona State, Buffalo, BYU, Northern Arizona, New Mexico, San Diego, San Jose State, Stanford, UNLV, Wisconsin.