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MSU Divers Set To Compete At Zones Championships
 
Diving Zones will begin Friday, March 14 at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion
 
 
 
Danielle Williams scored in each diving event at the Big Ten Championships, then placed in the top 10 at the Canadian Senior National diving competition.
 
Danielle Williams scored in each diving event at the Big Ten Championships, then placed in the top 10 at the Canadian Senior National diving competition.
 
 

March 12, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Four Michigan State divers will compete in the NCAA Diving Zones Championships this weekend at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion at Ohio State. The four Spartans - Danielle Williams, Alycia Mokedanz, David Garry and Ivan Zalessov - have one goal in mind: to make it to the finals and battle for a spot in the NCAA Championships.

"If we dive like we know we can, we can all make it to the finals," Mokedanz, a junior from Pickering, Ontario, said. "We just need to go out there, do the best we can and have fun."

Williams, a redshirt junior from Dorchester, Ontario, is riding the momentum of a pair of top 10 finishes at the Canadian Senior Nationals last weekend in Regina, Saskatchewan. She placed fourth in one-meter diving and ninth on the three-meter board against Canada's best divers. She placed sixth in three-meter diving at the Big Ten Women's Championships with a score of 313.15, and she added a 13th place finish in one-meter diving (250.25).

Mokedanz also scored at the league meet, placing 14th in one-meter diving with a total of 248.15, and 15th in the three-meter competition (250.15). She advanced to the Zones finals as a freshman in 2006.

Divers must place in the top 18 to make the Zones finals in a diving event.

Garry, a sophomore from Warren, Mich., made the one-meter finals at last year's Zones with a score of 507.05 and an 18th-place finish. He placed 20th on the three-meter board (264.50).

"We will do well if we can have a consistent meet," Garry said. "If we can do what we practice for all six of our dives, all four of us can make the finals."

Zalessov, a sophomore from Okemos, Mich., finished 35th in one-meter diving (218.00) at last year's Zones, but has his eye on a big improvement. He scored in each diving event at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago, highlighted by a 13th-place finish on the one-meter board (281.80).

 

 

Approximately 90 divers from 24 schools will compete in the three-day event beginning Friday, March 14. Below is the schedule for the competition:

Friday, March 14 - Women's 1-m Diving/Men's 3-m Diving
Saturday, March 15 - Men's 1-m Diving/Women's 3-m Diving
Sunday, March 16 - Men's Platform Diving/30-minute break/Women's Platform Diving

Admission to the Zones Championships is free. Live results will be available by clicking here.