University of Houston Athletics
University of Houston
NCAA Championships
Pozdniakova Finishes Fifth at NCAA Championships
3/8/2007 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
March 8, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - University of Houston Anastasia Pozdniakova scored 338.40 points in the finals of the 1-meter springboard diving to finish fifth during the first day of the 2007 NCAA Championships at the University Aquatic Center.
Making her first appearance at the nation's top collegiate meet, Pozdniakova led all divers after scoring 349.55 points in the preliminaries, finishing nearly four points ahead of Miami (Fla.)'s Jenna Dreyer.
Earlier in the meet, junior Ginni van Katwijk scored 258.90 points in the preliminaries to finish 35th overall.
With that performance, Pozdniakova earned 14 points for the Cougars, who stood in 19th place in the team standings after the first day. UH has finished among the Top 25 team leaders in points at the NCAA Championships for six consecutive years entering the 2007 meet.
Arizona led the team standings with 168 points, while Auburn was second with 155 points. Stanford was the only other points to reach triple digits after the first day, tallying 123.5 points.
Stanford's Cassidy Krug scored 361.55 points in the finals to win the NCAA national championships. Indiana's Christina Loukas was a close second with 360.35 points, while Dreyer finished third with 350.55 points.
The meet continues Friday and runs through Saturday evening. Swimming preliminaries are scheduled to start at 11 a.m., each day with the diving preliminaries slated to start at 1 p.m. The finals for all events will start at 7 p.m., each day.
Pozdniakova and van Katwijk join 37 other divers during the 3-meter springboard competition Friday. Van Katwijk also is scheduled to compete on the platform Sunday during the final day of the meet.
All-session tickets are available for $52. Single-session tickets for the preliminaries are $10 each day with finals session tickets going for $12.
Both divers made their first appearances at the NCAA Championships following impressive performances at the NCAA Zone D meet in Austin last weekend. Pozdniakova captured the titles on both the 1- and 3-meter springboards, while van Katwijk finished third on the 3-meter board to earn her place.
Pozdniakova led the Cougar divers after winning both the 1- and 3-meter springboard events during the recent C-USA Championship at UH's own Campus Recreation & Wellness Center Natatorium on Feb. 14-17.
A four-time C-USA Diver of the Week recipient in 2006-07, the Elektrostal, Russia, native was recognized for her impressive performances as the C-USA Diver of the Meet.
van Katwijk was the newest member of the Cougar diving corps in 2006-07 after transferring from Wyoming. However, the Grootebroek, Netherlands, native made an immediate impact during her first season and joined Pozdniakova as the only divers to finish among the Top Three individual leaders in all three diving events at the C-USA Championship.
The Cougar divers are under the leadership of Jane Figueiredo, who recently was named the C-USA Diving Coach of the Year for the sixth consecutive season. Now in her 17th season as the diving head coach, Figueiredo has led 23 divers to the NCAA Championships.
Players Mentioned
