March 12, 2008

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Four Michigan State divers will compete in the NCAA Diving Zones Championships this weekend at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion at Ohio State. The four Spartans - Danielle Williams, Alycia Mokedanz, David Garry and Ivan Zalessov - have one goal in mind: to make it to the finals and battle for a spot in the NCAA Championships.

"If we dive like we know we can, we can all make it to the finals," Mokedanz, a junior from Pickering, Ontario, said. "We just need to go out there, do the best we can and have fun."

Williams, a redshirt junior from Dorchester, Ontario, is riding the momentum of a pair of top 10 finishes at the Canadian Senior Nationals last weekend in Regina, Saskatchewan. She placed fourth in one-meter diving and ninth on the three-meter board against Canada's best divers. She placed sixth in three-meter diving at the Big Ten Women's Championships with a score of 313.15, and she added a 13th place finish in one-meter diving (250.25).

Mokedanz also scored at the league meet, placing 14th in one-meter diving with a total of 248.15, and 15th in the three-meter competition (250.15). She advanced to the Zones finals as a freshman in 2006.

Divers must place in the top 18 to make the Zones finals in a diving event.

Garry, a sophomore from Warren, Mich., made the one-meter finals at last year's Zones with a score of 507.05 and an 18th-place finish. He placed 20th on the three-meter board (264.50).

"We will do well if we can have a consistent meet," Garry said. "If we can do what we practice for all six of our dives, all four of us can make the finals."

Zalessov, a sophomore from Okemos, Mich., finished 35th in one-meter diving (218.00) at last year's Zones, but has his eye on a big improvement. He scored in each diving event at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago, highlighted by a 13th-place finish on the one-meter board (281.80).

Approximately 90 divers from 24 schools will compete in the three-day event beginning Friday, March 14. Below is the schedule for the competition:

Friday, March 14 - Women's 1-m Diving/Men's 3-m Diving
Saturday, March 15 - Men's 1-m Diving/Women's 3-m Diving
Sunday, March 16 - Men's Platform Diving/30-minute break/Women's Platform Diving

Admission to the Zones Championships is free. Live results will be available by clicking here.