Pakhalina earns Diver
of the Week
By Stuart H. Clements
Daily Cougar Staff
Houston diver Yulia Pakhalina received
her fourth honor as Conference USA Diver of the Week this week, the most
for any
conference member this season.
Pakhalina was selected this time largely
because of her success against Texas Christian and Southern Methodist.
The
sophomore won all four diving events against
TCU and SMU with astounding leads of more than 100 points.
Pakhalina scored 414.30 on the 3-meter
event against TCU, which was 143 points more than her competition, and
357.98 on
the 1-meter dive, 119.85 points ahead
of the next diver.
TCU's diving coach Wayne Chester awarded
a perfect 10 to Pakhalina for her fifth dive in the 3-meter, and also for
her sixth
dive in the 1-meter event.
The win marked Pakhalina's 29th consecutive
victory on the diving board. As a college athlete, she has never lost a
competition.
Pakhalina is a native of Penza, Russia,
and competed in the Olympic Games for Russia. In 2000, she participated
in the
Sydney games and received a gold medal
in the synchronized dive.
She is also the 2001 NCAA Diving Champion,
and has qualified to participate in the 2002 NCAA championships along with
freshman Lindsay Harvey.
Pakhalina and the Cougar swim team will
complete their regular season this Friday in College Station, where they
will
compete in a dual meet with Texas A&M.
They will then hit the road on Feb. 17 for the C-USA Championship in Indianapolis.
Congratulations to Pakhalina for dominating
in a sport where it's expected to take a dive.
