UH diver Friesen sets school record
Star-Bulletin staff
Mike Brown had a good feeling about Emma Friesen's final dive of the day. Brown, the Hawaii diving coach, didn't know just how good it would be.
Friesen nailed a reverse 1 1/2 with 1 1/2 twists for the highest score of the day to claim the NCAA title in the women's 1-meter springboard yesterday in Columbus, Ohio.
With the 61.10 points on her last dive, Friesen set a school record for total points (336.20). The sophomore from Canada is the second Rainbow Wahine in four years to win the national title; in 2005, QiongJie Huang also won the 1-meter.
Friesen edged runner-up Mary Yarrison (331.60) of Texas by less than five points. The UH diver led after the preliminary round and had a two-point lead going into the final dive.
"I figured she had one good dive coming," Brown said. "She did a great job early on setting up the final dive. That really put her on top."
Earlier yesterday, Friesen was named to the CSCAA All-American team.