Gitlelson Finishes Second on Platform at NCAA Zone Diving Meet
March 12, 2006 WEST COLUMBIA, Mo. - University of Houston diver Rachel Gitelson finished with 507.15 points to finish second on the platform at the NCAA Zone D meet Sunday at the Mizzou Aquatics Center. Gitelson, a native of Glendale, Ariz., needed to win the platform event to qualify for the 2006 NCAA Championships but fell just short of that goal. Texas' Jessica Livingston won the event with 507.15 points. Freshman Tania Cagnotto finished sixth with 439.90 points, while junior Anna Kiess, who finished as the NCAA national runner-up on the platform a year ago, placed seventh with 437.90 points. Both divers already had qualified to compete in all three diving events at the 2006 NCAA Championships, hosted by Purdue on March 16-18 in West Lafayette, Ind. Cagnotto won both the 1- and 3-meter springboard events earlier in the weekend at the NCAA Zone D meet, while Kiess punched her ticket to the NCAA Championships with a third-place finish on the 3-meter board on Saturday. They became the 20th and 21st divers under head coach Jane Figueiredo to qualify for the nation's top collegiate meet during her 16-year tenure at UH. Figueiredo, Cagnotto and Kiess will leave Monday to prepare for the NCAA Championships, which begin Thursday.
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