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Almazan plunges into spotlight, UH heads to Orlando

By Stuart H. Clements
The Daily Cougar

After sharing the spotlight with the UH swimming team all season, the Cougar divers finally get a chance to shine alone.

Houston will send the diving team to sunny Florida for the Orlando Diving Invitational, which begins Saturday and concludes Monday.

Spearheading the Cougar offensive will be sophomore diver Azul Almazan. The diving virtuoso has been invaluable to Houston's success this season, racking up vital team points for her performances in the springboard events.

A native of Mexico City, Almazan has dominated American competition. This week, she earned the Conference USA Diver of the Week award for the fourth time this season. She earned the honor with her performance against Texas Christian on Friday and North Texas on Saturday.

Almazan started strong early in the season, picking up her first two C-USA Diver of the Week nods in consecutive weeks on Oct. 14 and 21, and has remained an asset for the Cougars.

She continues to be the master of the three-meter springboard, winning the event in both Fort Worth against the Horned Frogs and in Denton against the Mean Green. Almazan has helped propel the swimming and diving team to a record-setting nine dual meet wins. Houston defeated North Texas 131-107.

The Cougars stand at 9-7 on the season and 3-1 in C-USA meets, with their only conference loss coming to the Horned Frogs 168-130.

As a redshirt freshman in 2002-03, Almazan earned team points at dual meets and attended the NCAA Championships wearing Cougar red and earned a point for Houston with a 16th place finish in the three-meter springboard event.

In addition to taking two firsts in the three-meter events against TCU and North Texas, Almazan placed second at both dual meets in the one-meter springboard event.

Freshman Anna Kiess from Berlin won the one-meter event at both meets. Kliess figures to be a key component to the Cougars' diving success in the coming years.

The diving team will be on the road through Monday at the Orlando Diving Invitational. The Cougars will hit the road again to face Arkansas on Jan. 31 with hopes of increasing their dual meet wins to 10.

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