Watson to Represent Cougar Men at National Championships

PROVO -- Sophomore All-American diver Brandon Watson will be the lone Cougar heading to Columbus, Ohio for the men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving National Championships March 25-27 to compete in the 1-meter, 3-meter and 5-meter events.

“We look forward to Brandon competing at the men’s National Championships,” said BYU head coach Tim Powers. “He has done a great job this season and we look forward to seeing what he can do this week.”

After tallying four Mountain West Conference Diver of the Week awards, Watson was named MWC Diver of the Year at the MWC Championships. In the 2009-10 season he tallied 11 dual meet wins, finished first on the 3-meter against PAC-10 schools at the Wildcat invitational, won both the 1-meter and 3-meter titles at the MWC Championships and won the 3-meter at NCAA Zone E Championships.

At Zones, Watson led the Cougars scoring 410.40 points in the prelims of the 3-meter competition and 813.05 points in the finals to come out on top with Arizona State, Arizona, USC and Stanford divers following him. Watson also finished third in the preliminary round on the 1-meter with a score of 370.75 and a final score of 730.60 in fourth.

“Of course, how can you not be ecstatic that Brandon beat out all the divers from the PAC-10,” said BYU diving coach Keith Russell. “He is a phenomenal diver and is just scratching the surface of his potential.”

For live stats and video, go to the NCAA Championship homepage by clicking HERE.