LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 6, 2021) – Three Wyoming divers will compete at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships hosted by Northern Arizona at the Wall Aquatic Center in Flagstaff. The competition is set to begin on Monday with sophomore Melissa Mirafuentes, junior Brendan Byrnes and freshman Juan Gonzalez competing in all three boards. Mirafuentes and Byrnes are participating in the event for the second straight year while Gonzalez is making his first appearance.
 
On the women's side, the top 12 qualify for the NCAA Championship in the 1-meter while nine individuals in the 3-meter and platform will move on. For the men, four qualify in the 1-meter along with seven in the 3-meter and six in the platform.
 
"After successful conference championships and a strong week of practice, I am really excited to see what our divers can do against the best college divers in the west. The zone meet is probably the most pressure packed competition of the year as it is the one and only shot to qualify for the NCAA Championships," head diving coach Ted Everett said. "Even really good divers, if they have an off day, can get left out and this meet has some really good divers such as a European Championships finalist and a World Championships bronze medalist.  The judging is usually very tough and so we will see how our divers respond.
 
Mirafuentes is coming off another stellar performance at the 2021 MW Championship. She would defend her championship in the platform event with a posted a total of 263.80 in the preliminaries followed by a season-best score of 280.50 in the finals. For her efforts, she was named the MW Championship Diver of the Meet for the second straight year. In the 1-meter, she turned in a preliminary score of 292.10 which was second and followed that up with a six dive total of 282.95 in the finals. Mirafuentes followed that up with a score of 319.10 and a season-best total of 330.15 in the finals for a second place finish. She was also named MW Diver of the three times this season.
 
In last year's competition, she qualified for the NCAA Diving Championships in the platform with a third place qualifying combined score of 558.90. She was named to the CSCAA All-American Team but was unable to compete in the championship due to COVID.
 
Byrnes competed last year in the NCAA Zone "E" Championship in all three platforms. His best finish came in the platform with a score of 238.35. At the 2021 WAC Championship, he placed fifth in the 1-meter with a score 269.45, while in the 3-meter he went a season-best 308.70 for a top five finish. Byrnes was the top finisher in the platform with a season-best score of 294.65.

Gonzalez was steady in his first season of competition with the Cowboys. He qualified for the Zone Meet with at the time a career-best mark of 317.30 in the 3-meter at the dual meets against Air Force and BYU. In his first WAC Championship, he posted a second place finish in the event with a career mark of 344.10. He was fifth in the 1-meter with a mark of 287.50 while in the platform turned in a score of 257.40.
 
"Melissa (Mirafuentes), who qualified to the NCAA meet last year after finishing in third place on the platform, has a real good shot to qualify again.  Due to the success of our divers from the zone in the past, she just needs to finish in ninth place or higher.  That is not as easy as it sounds because of how good the level of competition is.  On the men's side, things are much tougher as there are not nearly as many qualifying spots. If Brendan and Juan dive well, they could be there to pick up the pieces. I look for Juan on the 3-meter springboard and Brendan on the platform."