OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – Divers Becca Barras and Tracey Berghian finished second and third respectively this evening in platform diving at the MWC Championships. The pair also garnered MWC Divers of the Year, along with BYU’s Kelli Einfeldt. Head diving coach Jeff DiNicola was honored for his accomplishments this season with his first MWC Diving Coach of the Year award.
The pair of Barras and Berghian dominated the diving competition over the past three days. Both came away with first-place finishes, Barras in the 1-meter and Berghian in the 3-meter. Today the two capped off their excellent showings with second and third place finishes on the platform. Barras scored 342.15 in the preliminaries and 349.65 in the finals to secure her No. 2 spot. Berghian was close behind, scoring 324.25 in the preliminaries and 304.05 in the final round. Air Force’s Jessica Williams stole the show, scoring 418.05 in the platform finals for first place.
UNM finished the 2003 MWC Championships in fifth place, up from last year’s sixth and 2001’s eighth-place spot. The team finished with 379 points behind BYU, who was crowned conference champions for the second straight year, with 622 points, Colorado State in second with 617.50, UNLV (574) and Utah (496).
New Mexico participated in five swimming events today in Oklahoma City. In the 100 free, Myra Will and Kelsey Leckovic had strong performances. Will finished in 11th with a time of 52.05 and Leckovic occupied the 14th slot with a time of 52.47.
The team’s top breaststroker, Heather DiLuzio, found company in the conference’s group of talented swimmers. She captured a season-best time in the finals of the 200 breast, 2:21.31, which gave her 10th place. Butterfly specialist Aimee Dunavant had the top Lobo finish of the day in a swimming event. The sophomore swam the 200 fly in a time of 2:07.61, good enough for eighth place.
In the 200 back, three Lobos finished back-to-back. Whitney Thomson, Robyn Miller and Lindsay Fagrelius earned 13th, 14th and 15th place respectively in the event.
In the final individual event of the evening, Lobo sophomore Lindsay Jeter came out on top in the cherry and silver. She placed ninth (17:27.36) in the 1650 free and was followed closely by Heather Morsilli in 11th (17:41.82). Nicole Overeem and and Megan Verbrugge rounded out the event with times of 17:43.48 and 18:15.14 respectively which gave them 13th and 19th place finishes.
The four-day championships conclude the Lobos’ 2002-2003 swimming season. Becca Barras and Tracey Berghian will return to diving competition March 13-15, when they travel back to Oklahoma City for the Diving Zone Meet.