March 15, 2005
College Station, Texas - University of Missouri junior diver Nicole Frazier (St. Peters, Mo. - Francis Howell High School) finished 2nd in the women's platform competition Sunday at the NCAA Zone Diving Regional Championships, and advanced to the NCAA Championships, to be held March 17-19 in West Lafayette, Ind.
Frazier turned in a score of 361.70 in Sunday's meet, and advanced to the NCAA Championships automatically due to her 2nd-place finish, as the top-two advanced on. Frazier is the first female Mizzou diver to qualify for the NCAA Championships since Denise Buchheister did so for the MU women in 1982. She also became the second Tiger to qualify for nationals over the weekend, joining Evan Watters, who qualified for nationals with his 2nd-place finish in the men's 1-meter competition.
What makes Frazier's feat even more astonishing is that Mizzou has never had a platform tower at its Natatorium facility. Frazier had to drive to St. Louis once a week during the season just to get access to a tower, along with interim diving coach Jamie Sweeney.
"This absolutely amazing to me," said Sweeney. "I couldn't be more proud of Nicole right now. She did every single dive as good as she could have - she hit all nine dives, which was amazing to see," he said. "Nicole had never been on a platform before she came here, and with the limited access she's had to a tower, it's absolutely wonderful to see all of her hard work pay off," said Sweeney, who is a former MU diver himself (2000-03).
Here is a recap of the Mizzou divers' performances at the Zones...
Men's 1-Meter Place Tiger (Year, Hometown) Score 2. Evan Watters (Jr., San Antonio, TX) 576.65 %% 6. Jeff Wolfert (Fr., Overland Park, KS) 529.55 8. Aaron Wionzek (Jr., Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) 513.05 11. David Boyko (Fr. St. Louis, MO) 478.55Women's 1-Meter 13. Kim Massaro (So., San Antonio, TX) 441.15 14. Anna Massey (Sr., Springfield, IL) 437.75 18. Nicole Frazier (Jr., St. Peters, MO) 410.50
Men's 3-Meter 5. Evan Watters 484.80 8. Aaron Wionzek 451.15 9. David Boyko 450.95 10. Jeff Wolfert 450.00
Women's 3-Meter 15. Anna Massey 361.05 16. Nicole Frazier 357.90 17. Kim Massaro 356.10
Men's Platform 3. Evan Watters 454.80 5. Jeff Wolfert 416.50 6. Aaron Wionzek 367.75 7. David Boyko 333.95
Women's Platform 2. Nicole Frazier 361.70 %%
%% - Advances to NCAA Championships