Jones and Watson Officially Qualify for NCAAs

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.