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OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla – UNM diver Becca Barras won the 1-meter diving title this evening at the MWC Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla. The sophomore is the first Lobo swimmer or diver to be crowned a conference champion in 12 years. UNM finished the first day of competition in third place with 84 points behind BYU (101) and Colorado State (99).
Barras scored a 271.60 on the 1-meter springboard in the preliminary round of the championships, giving her a first place spot. Junior diver Tracey Berghian finished the prelims in the third spot with a score of 238.70.
Competition intensified in the finals, as the top four jockeyed for position. Barras was impressive again, scoring 281.90 points to give her a clear lead and secure her the top spot in the event. Berghian was solid, scoring 260.95 points to give her third place in the event. The second and fourth place finishers, Kelli Einfeldt of BYU and Lori Vigil of Colorado State, both scored within five tenths of a point of Berghian, illustrating exactly how close the battle was.
Head diving coach Jeff DiNicola was impressed with how competitive the diving was at the championships.
“It was amazing to see how tight it was in the top-four tonight and what a battle there was at every spot,” said DiNicola. “It’s going to be exactly the same tomorrow on the 3-meter board.”
UNM also competed in two relay events today. The 200 medley relay team of Whitney Thomson, Aimee Dunavant, Heather DiLuzio and Myra Will finished with a time of 1:51.20 in the prelims. The foursome improved their time in the finals, swimming in 1:47.70 to give them seventh place overall.
The 800 free relay team also finished seventh, clocking in at 7:50.70 in the prelims and 7:44.22 in the finals. Team members included Robyn Miller, Nicole Overeem, Kelsey Leckovic and Lindsay Jeter.
Competition continues tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the preliminary rounds and will conclude at 6 p.m. with the finals. Check back to golobos.com for full MWC Championships results tomorrow evening.Q|