FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (March 9, 2020) – Freshman Melissa Mirafuentes was the top finisher on Monday with the Cowgirl and Cowboy diving squads opening up its first of three days of competition at the NCAA Zone Championships. The women competed in the 1-meter while the men started off in the 3-meter.
 
After posting a preliminary score of 257.40 to place 15^th, she would advance to the 18-particpant final. Mirafuentes scored 231.30 for a combined score of 488.70 and an 18^th place finish. For the women, the top 12 earn an NCAA championship bid, while the top four on the men's side advance. 
 
Redshirt junior Karla Contreras finished right outside of the top 18 and placed 20^th with a score of 245.95. She qualified for the event in 2018. Sophomore McKenna Houlihan posted a mark of 226.20 while participating in her first Zone competition.
 
"We had a bit of a rough start to today and needed to respond better," head diving coach Ted Everett said. "Melissa (Mirafuentes) made the finals and needed a big score on her final dive to go ahead of the final qualifying spot. She got a bad hurdle, missed the dive which knocked her out of contention. Karla (Contreras) had a tough first dive, but clawed her way back just missing the final by 0.7 points finishing 20^th. McKenna (Houlihan) had a solid performance in her first zones. Brendan (Brynes), also in his first zone competition, was a little nervous. He didn't really miss anything but didn't really hit anything either. We are hoping for a bounce back tomorrow."
 
On the men's side, the Cowboys were represented by sophomore Brendan Byrnes in the 3-meter. Byrnes turned in a 25^th place performance with a score of 246.60.
 
The Cowgirls will continue competition tomorrow on the 3-meter while Byrnes will be competing in the 1-meter. Preliminaries are scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. MT at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.