Houston's Pakhalina Wins At Fina Diving Grand Prix

Yulia Pakhalina

University of Houston diver Yulia Pakhalina, teaming with Vera Ilynia, captured first place Sunday in the three-meter synchronized competition at the 2003 FINA Diving Grand Prix in Victoria, Canada.

Pakhalina, who captured both the 1-meter and 3-meter NCAA individual national championships in 2003, teamed with her partner to score 300.90 points. The Russian duo was the only team to top the 300-point mark and finished more than 11 points ahead of the second-place team.

The Penza, Russia, native ended her collegiate career in March as the most decorated female student-athlete in UH history. She captured five NCAA individual national championships in three seasons and only lost two diving events in which she entered.

She was the two-time defending Conference USA champion on the both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards and was named the Diver of the Year in 2002 and 2003.