March 10, 2004

Columbia, Mo. - The University of Missouri men's and women's diving teams are ready to start the three-day NCAA Zone D Championships in Houston, Texas. Diving competition begins Friday, March 12 and will conclude Sunday, March 14th.

The zone championship meet is a qualifying meet for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. To qualify to compete at the zone meet, divers must achieve a specific score or higher during regular season competition. To qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championships divers must place in the top two positions on one of the boards to receive consideration, as only five divers from each zone will be selected for the national meet.

All of Missouri's men's and women's divers have qualified to compete at the Zone D Championships.

In their last meet, the Big 12 Championships, Missouri divers placed in the top-five spots on several boards. Sophomore Evan Watters (San Antonio, TX) ended the week of competition with a second place finish on 1-meter, fourth place on 3-meter and third place on the platform. Fellow Sophomore Aaron Wionzek (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) finished sixth on 1-meter, seventh on 3-meter and fourth on the platform. Junior Anna Massey (Springfield, Ill) placed 10th on both the 1-meter and platform and 11th on the 3-meter board. Sophomore Nicole Frazier (St. Peters, Mo.) finished fourth on the platform and added 15th place finishes on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards. Freshman Kim Massaro (San, Antonio, TX) dove as an exhibition competitor at the conference championships.

Watters is currently the school record holder in the 1-meter (6 dives) and 3-meter (6 dives) events, while Wionzek is the school record holder in the 3-meter (11 dives) event. Both Watters and Wionzek are in the top-five scores on the platform. Frazier and Massey are both ranked in the top-five on the platform.