AUSTIN, Texas – Junior Lana Christensen advanced to the final round of the 3-meter springboard event for Northern Arizona diving at the 2010 Zone E Regional Championships in the Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center on Friday.  Christensen placed 16th, the highest finish of the four Lumberjack divers to participate in the final day of competition this season at the Zone meet.

Christensen, from Casper, Wyo., qualified for the finals after placing 17th in the preliminary round.  She scored 258.60 in the morning session and improved her position by one spot with a final round score of 254.35 in the afternoon.

Christensen bounced back with a top-18 finish on Friday after missing the 1-meter cut during Thursday's preliminary round.  She placed 37th on 1-meter with a score of 211.85.  The junior diver bested her 17th-place finish at last year's Zone Championships on the 3-meter as well.

Freshman Kristy Ardavanis improved her position from the 1-meter standings and landed in the 20th spot on the 3-meter with a preliminary score of 255.95.  On Thursday, she was 22nd and missed the final 1-meter cut by just five points.  Ardavanis came even closer on Friday narrowly missing the top-18, this time by just three points.

After reaching the final round on the 1-meter, juniors Taryn Harris and Megan Collier earned 33rd and 37th-place finishes on the 3-meter, respectively.  Harris scored 238.25 and Collier turned in a score of 215.60.

With two days of Zone Championship competition complete, the NAU diving team will close its 2009-10 season.  The platform event is scheduled for Saturday, but the four Lumberjack divers will not participate in the event. 

(Photo by Jeff Huehn)

DID YOU KNOW…Thirty-five Northern Arizona University student-athletes and department student assistants participated in spring commencement ceremonies on the NAU campus and were commissioned degrees as part of the Class of 2009.