FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (March 12, 2019) – Northern Arizona's
Tatiana Kurach and
Jenny Cheetham finished the finals in the 1-meter event in the NCAA Zone E Championships in 11th and 17th place. Unfortunately, both divers missed out on making the top eight and moving onto the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championship. Today was an improvement for the Lumberjacks after having zero divers move onto the finals in day one.
"Tatiana was right there all day, and in our sport, she just needed a touch more consistency, and she would have been there," NAU associate head coach
Nikki Huffman said. "Cheetham did a great job as well, and with her probably just a half point per dive from each judge and she's in the mix as well."
The four NAU divers were able to put together a solid day two performance in prelims as all four divers placed in the top 28 out of 62 divers. The 'Jacks that competed in the 1-meter on March 12 were Cheetham, Kurach,
Christina Torrente and
Emily Sharrer. In prelims, Kurach was the top NAU finisher as she placed ninth with a score of 276.10. Behind Kurach in prelims was Cheetham who placed 15th with a score of 263.65. This marked the first time in Cheetham's career that she made the finals in Zones. With only the top 18 divers making finals, the senior Torrente just missed moving on as she placed 21st overall with a score of 248.45. The final Lumberjack on the leaderboard was Sharrer who placed 28th in the event. The redshirt freshman was very impressive on the day as she competed and was in the mix of making the finals all day.
In the finals, Kurach ended the event placed 11th overall with a combined score of 545.95, while Cheetham finished in 17th place with a combined score of 511.00. A top eight performance would've meant the second time in Kurach's Lumberjack career where she would've qualified for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. This event will mark the end of an impressive diving career for Kurach at NAU. During her time at Northern Arizona, the senior has won three WAC Championships and three WAC Diver of the Year awards, while also becoming the second diver in program history to make it to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Although NAU will be losing a great diver in Kurach, Cheetham showed that the future of the program is in good hands as she has put together an impressive Zone's performance.
"Kurach is a tough competitor and has had her ups and downs here, but overall trusted the program and what we do here and every year she has gotten better," Huffman said. "Her impact on NAU will be she has brought another level of diving to here that now the underclassman feel they can reach and obtain."
Looking Forward
Northern Arizona will be back in action tomorrow on March 13, for the final day of the NCAA Zone E Championships. The Lumberjacks will only have Torrente on the platform tomorrow.
