March 5, 2007

SAN DIEGO - SDSU freshman Caitlin Atkinson and sophomore Megan Flanagan made history as they became the first Aztec divers to qualify and compete at the Zone E Regional, the qualifying meet for the NCAA Championships. The event featured a very strong field of divers that included athletes from UCLA, Stanford, Arizona and Hawai'i as well as six of the other eight Mountain West conference schools.

The field of 39 divers was pared to 18 after the preliminary round which consisted of six dives. Although neither Atkinson nor Flanagan advanced to the finals, both demonstrated the potential to make an impact in the future.

Atkinson finished her six dives with a score of 220.15, missing the cutoff for the finals by less than nine points. She finished 23rd while Nevada's Candice Minette was the final qualifier with a score of 229.05. Flanagan, meanwhile, recorded a score of 187.65 to place 35th in the competition.

The SDSU diving squad completed one its most successful campaigns in school memory in 2006-07 as Atkinson (1-Meter) and Flanagan (3-Meter) both set school marks during the course of the season.