April 2008


NAU Impressive At NCAA Zone Diving Championships


NAU DIVERS -- From left, Megan Collier, Taryn Harris, Diving Coach Nikki Huffman, Danielle Borth, and Natalie Hughes were all impressive at last month's NCAA Zone E Regional Diving Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – NAU senior Natalie Hughes (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair) took seventh place on both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the 2008 NCAA Zone “E” Diving Championships, recording her highest-ever finishes in the four years she has qualified for the meet. Senior Danielle Borth (Seattle, Wash./Issaquah) placed 10th on the 1-meter.

Even the seventh-place finishes by Hughes are not high enough to earn a spot at the NCAA Championships, but with over 40 divers and the fact that NAU competes in arguably the toughest zone in the nation, the results are impressive.

Hughes scored 253.60 points on the finals of the 1-meter (484.30 total points including the preliminaries) and 261.00 on the finals of the 3-meter (526.90 total). Borth scored 237.00 on the 1-meter finals and 477.20 overall.

Freshmen Taryn Harris and Megan Collier also competed on both events for NAU, but neither advanced to the finals. Harris placed 22nd on the 3-meter and 30th on the 1-meter, while Collier was 30th on 3-meter and 34th on 1-meter. Borth placed 24th on 3-meter.

Borth also competed on the platform event and earned a total score of 430.60 to place 12th of 23 competitors.

“We didn’t earn any NCAA Championship berths like we thought maybe we had a chance to, but I’m very proud of all four girls and how they performed,” said diving coach Nikki Huffman. “Natalie earned her highest-ever finishes and Taryn’s performance on the 3-meter was great for her first year. Natalie and Danielle will be missed tremendously but this team has a bright future.”

The season has now concluded for both NAU swimming and diving after the Lumberjacks placed second of eight teams at the Western Athletic Conference Championships in late February.