University of Houston Athletics
Pakhalina Repeats As NCAA National Champion In 3-Meter Diving
3/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
March 22, 2002
AUSTIN, Texas - After seeing her 36-event winning streak come to an end, University of Houston junior diver Yulia Pakhalina began another streak Friday night at the 2002 NCAA Championships and did so in impressive fashion.
With her score of 625.05 in the 3-meter springboard competition, Pakhalina captured the 2002 NCAA national championship in that event by a whopping 44-point margin at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center. She became only the fourth diver to win back-to-back events in 20 years and set new NCAA and NCAA meet records, breaking the 1998 score of 612.60 set by former UH volunteer assistant coach Vera Ilynia.
Pakhalina saw her 36-event winning streak come to an end Thursday night when she finished second behind USC's Blythe Hartley in the 1-meter competition.
Entering Friday's finals, only a slim margin separated Pakhalina from second and third place. After the required dives, Hartley led all divers with a score of 212.90, less than a quarter of a point ahead of Pakhalina at 212.75 and only 12.10 points ahead of Indiana's Sarah Reiling.
However, the Penza, Russia, native dazzled the judges late to outscore the field and claim her third NCAA individual national championship.
Reiling finished second with a score of 625.05, while Hartley was a distant third at 567.80.
