FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 6, 2018) – Three Northern Arizona divers competed on 3-meter with the highlight coming courtesy of junior
Tatiana Kurach's second finals appearance in as many days at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships. Kurach earned a 16th-place finish on Tuesday inside the Aquatic and Tennis Complex for NAU's highest placement on day two of the Zone Championships.
After placing 12th on 1-meter on Monday, Kurach followed that up by finishing 16th on 3-meter. Kurach posted a strong score of 287.25, which qualified her for the finals, in the prelims and then held steady in the finals with a score of 283.35 – putting her two-round score at 570.60.
"Tatiana was good, just not quite good enough," said diving coach
Nikki Huffman. "I do think her late season injury caused her lose some of her consistency. I actually think she was diving better this year than last year."
Junior
Christina Torrente missed the finals by less than 11 points, and finished in 22nd overall with a score of 269.65. Torrente was sitting in the top nine through the first four rounds in the morning, before ultimately falling out of the finals qualifying despite a solid performance herself.
"Christina was on the scoreboard for four rounds and then she missed her fifth dive a little bit," Huffman said. "She did a great job, but I still think she should've been in the top 18."
Junior
Raquel Gonzales competed for the first time this meet, after sitting out Monday's 1-meter event, and finished 39th in the prelims. She totaled a score of 236.35.
"(Rocky) was solid," Huffman said. "She missed her backs and her gainers a little, which is a shame because she's been doing those pretty well. She still showed up pretty well with this group."
Gonzales and Torrente are slated to represent the Lumberjacks on Wednesday's final day of the Zone Diving Championships. The women's platform preliminaries will get started at 11 a.m. in the ATC.
