FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (March 10, 2020) – With a seventh place finish in the women's 3-meter springboard, redshirt junior Karla Contreras would secure a spot from Zone E for the 2020 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. It's the third time during her career she has qualified for the event. The women competed in the 3-meter while the men were in action on the 1-meter.
 
Contreras scored a 301.30 in the prelims to finish seventh and advance to the 18-particpant final. She would remain in seventh place with a second session score of 312.90 and a total combined score of 614.20. For the women, the top nine earn an NCAA championship bid, while the top seven on the men's side advance. 
 
Freshman Melissa Mirafuentes also moved on to the final round of 18 for the second day in a row. She placed 16^th with a six dive score of 271.50. She would move up one spot with a finals score of 279.25 and a total score of 550.75. Sophomore McKenna Houlihan missed the top 18 by just over four points to finish 19^th with a score of 261.10. Due to a scratch, she was able to compete in the second session and placed 18^th with a combined score of 510.35.
 
"It was a much better day for us as all three Cowgirls qualified for the finals and Karla's experience helped earn her a spot to the NCAA Championships," head diving coach Ted Everett said. "I was really impressed how our young ladies performed today. Brendan (Byrnes) got over his nerves, just missing out on the making the finals by four points and finishing 20^th. This experience will really help his confidence and his ability to compete in these high pressure situations going forward."  
 
Sophomore Brendan Byrnes turned in a score of 268.75 and placed 20^th in the preliminaries in the 1-meter springboard.
 
The competition will conclude tomorrow with both competing in the platform. Preliminaries are scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m. MT at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.