AUSTIN -- Day two of the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships brought fourth-place finishes for Brandon Watson on the men’s 1-meter and Tawni Jones on the women’s 3-meter, both qualifying for the NCAA National Championships.

“I think they performed well today,” said BYU diving coach Keith Russell. “We didn’t quite live up to the standard we set yesterday, yet, today was a good day today too. Tawni officially qualified for the National Championships today, so that was the biggest accomplishment of the day.”

After winning the 3-meter title Thursday, Watson finished third in the preliminary round with a score of 370.75 and a final score of 730.60 in fourth. Four of the five Cougar men competing in the event made the finals, Nic Suder placing 13th with a final score of 567.80, Samuel Hatch in 15th (548.80) and Ron Morris in 18th (518.35).

Travis Day just missed the cutoff at 19th with a preliminary score of 246.85.

Jones and freshman Mikenna Cloward placed third (303.35) and seventh (277.70), respectively, in the preliminary round of the 3-meter championship, the only two Cougars to make the finals. Jones finished fourth after the final round with 610.15 points while Cloward finished in 13th with a final score of 538.15.

“As a conference we did very well and set a high standard of competition,” said Russell. “Stephanie Ortiz of Wyoming also qualified for NCAAs, making it three divers from our conference.”

In the preliminary round of the women’s 3-meter championship, senior Ava Jackman placed 26th with a score of 243.20, Senior Emily Woods placed 32nd (238.85), freshman Dayna Christensen placed 34th (236.80) and sophomore Syrena Miskin placed 40th (165.40).

Saturday the male divers competed on the 5-meter platform, Hatch finishing sixth overall with a final score of 665.60. Watson finished eighth with a final score of 620.95 while Morris finished 12th with 539.70 total points.

Day barely missed the finals cutoff in 13th with a preliminary score of 242.30 on the 5-meter while Nic Suder finished 17th with 208.35 points.

For day one's results click HERE.

PROVO -- The last stumbling block along the road to the NCAA National Championships for the BYU diving team will be the Zone E Diving Championships March 11-13 in Austin, Texas.

“It’s just the type of competition that our divers need to prove that they’re able to do great things,” said BYU diving coach Keith Russell. “Our zone is loaded with the very best divers in the country and it will be a tough meet.”

Five men and six women will be competing for the Cougars, the most that have ever been able to compete at Zone Championships. Dayna Christensen, Mikenna Cloward and Nic Suder will represent the BYU freshman; Syrena Miskin , Travis Day, Sam Hatch and Brandon Watson will represent the sophomores; and Ava Jackman, Tawni Jones, Emily Woods and Ron Morris will do their best to perform well for the last Zone Diving Championships of their Cougar careers.

All-Americans Watson and Jones, who both won the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events at the Mountain West Conference Championships, will lead the Cougars.

After tallying four MWC Diver of the Week awards, sophomore All-American diver 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 and won both the 1-meter and 3-meter titles at the MWC Championships.

Taking the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard titles at MWC Championships was Jones, also named MWC Diver of the Year. After a stellar season with 14 first-place finishes and six MWC Diver of the Week honors, Jones led her Cougars to the fourth MWC title in four years.

The Zone E Diving Championships will start at noon on March 11 and go through the 13th. It will be held in Austin, Texas at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center. Check back to www.byucougars.com/swimming_diving/ for scores and updates.

Schedule of Events

Thursday, March 11

Women’s 1m Prelims – 12-2:30 pm (CT)

Women’s 1m Finals – 2:45-3:45 pm

Men’s 3m Prelims – 12-1:30 pm

Men’s 3m Finals – 1:45-2:45 pm

Friday, March 12

Men’s 1m Prelims – 12-1:30 pm

Men’s 1m Finals – 1:45-2:45 pm

Women’s 3m Prelims – 12-2:30 pm

Women’s 3m Finals – 2:45-3:45 pm

Saturday, March 13

Women’s Platform – 11:30 am-1:05 pm

Men’s Platform – 2:35-4:20 pm