Viola Places Seventh In One-Meter Finals at NCAA Championships

March 20, 2008

<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>COLUMBUS, Ohio – University of Miami sophomore diver Brittany Viola opened the 2008 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships with a seventh place finish of 296.00 in the one-meter finals Thursday at OhioStateUniversity’s McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

After qualifying with another seventh place finish in the afternoon’s preliminary round, Viola earned her Top 10 finish in the finals with scores of 57.20, her highest mark of the day, 33.60, 49.40, 48.75, 49.45 and 57.60 in her six final dives to pick up 12 points.

She had placed seventh out of a field of 40 in the prelims with a score of 281.85, opening the trials with a strong 54.60, followed by marks of 46.80, 42.90, 41.25, 48.30 and 48.00 her next five dives.

Hawai’i’s Emma Friesen came away with the top score of 336.20 in the one-meter finals while Mary Yarrison of Texas and Brittney Feldman of Indiana finished second and third respectively.

Viola will now compete in the three-meter event on Friday and the platform, an event she placed first in at the zone championships, on Saturday. Trials on Friday and Saturday are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. each day with the finals taking place during the evening sessions beginning at 7 p.m.

Click for complete results from the action in Columbus, click here.