Houston Divers Set for Diving Zones

http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/030418aaa.html

Micaela Bouter and Lauren Burrell will travel to Minnesota for the second time this season to compete for in the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships. Burrell is coming off of her first American Championship after winning gold in the 3-Meter Springboard at the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championships. Bouter will competing at zones for the fourth and final time at Houston, after qualifying every year since 2015. Last season, Bouter finished in 11th-place, just outside of the qualifying standards for last season’s NCAA Championships in the 1-Meter and ninth-place in the 3-Meter, two spots shy of a bid to the Championships.

The event will feature divers from 24 schools with 47 women competing for 11 total bids in the 1-meter springboard and 9 total bids in the 3-meter springboard to the 2018 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. There are five zones championships taking place around the country at the same time next week.

http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/030518aaa.html

“It was a good day,” said Diving Coach Bob Gunter. “Lauren had a slow start and fought her way back like a real cougar. She has her best event tomorrow, so I am really looking forward to it. Micaela also had a very slow start and dug herself into too big of a hole. She really put together a solid list for the finals and almost fought her way back into qualifying. She was 12th, with 11 spots qualifying to NCAA’s. Hopefully we got the jitters out and will be ready to rock tomorrow.”

Houston got off to a good start in the 1-Meter springboard competition. Both Micaela Bouter and Lauren Burrell closed out prelims with top-36 finishes. Bouter turned in a 17th place finish in prelims, moving onto the finals of the event for the fourth time in her career. Bouter’s best dives of the day came in the second and sixth round of the finals. The senior notched 54.60 points off of a Forward 2 ½ Somersault Pike and another 54.60 points after successfully executing a Reverse 1 ½ Somersault 1 ½ Twist Free. Bouter closed out the day in 12th-place with a combined total of 560.60 points, coming within four points of a berth to the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships.

http://www.uhcougars.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/030618aab.html

“Another solid day against some great competition,” said Diving Coach Bob Gunter. “A great foundation is moving forward with Lauren. She will continue to grow and become more competitive, having had this experience. I’ve been very thankful to have had the opportunity to work with Micaela and all that she has brought to this program.”

Senior diver Micaela Bouter posted a preliminary round score of 312.30, finishing in 11th-place to advance to the finals of the 3-Meter at Zones for the fourth consecutive year. Bouter moved on to the finals where she tacked on 302.45 more points to close out the event with a 15th-place finish. Bouter’s best dive of the day came in her opening dive when she posted 61.50 points after successfully executing a Forward 2 ½ Somersault 1 Twist Pike.

Lauren Burrell finished the day with a 33rd-place finish in the preliminaries of the 3-Meter. Burrell scored a six-dive total of 256.80 points in her second appearance at the Diving Zones, with her highest scoring dive coming on her third attempt. The sophomore successfully performed an Inward 2 ½ Somersault Tuck, earning 51.30 points.