The Buffalo swimming and diving team represented itself well on Saturday as both freshmen Meili Carpenter and Michael McDowell reached the finals of their respective events for the second consecutive day at the 2007 NCAA Zone A Diving Championships at the Rutgers Aquatic Center.
The youngsters were faced with extremely tough competition, but the two stood up to the challenge. Carpenter notched an impressive fourth-place finish in the one-meter women's competition with a total of 505.20 points. Drexel's Kate Hynes won the event with a total of 527.60 points. The freshman would come back to take 11th in the three-meter board on Friday. Carpenter was named to the All-MAC Second Team honoree.
On the flip side, McDowell finished 14th in the three-meter board on Saturday with a total of 567.35 points. LaSalle's Karo Isajan scored the victory with a dominant total score of 735.55 points. McDowell also competed in both diving events placing eighth in the men's one-meter springboard on Friday to help him move into the finals, after scoring 263.30 points in the preliminaries. McDowell put forward a strong effort in the finals, and finished 17th overall. Like Carpenter, the fresh face earned himself an All-MAC Second Team honor.
The zone championships are being held in five geographic regions this weekend around the country with slots available in the upcoming NCAA Championships to the top finishers in each region.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
