Khechfe to compete at NCAA Zone D Diving Championship

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas diver Nadia Khechfe will make a trip to Columbia, Missouri to participate in the NCAA Zone D Diving Championship, March 6-8 at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. The junior will compete for a chance to qualify for the NCAA Championship.

Khechfe will enter the competition with some momentum, recording top-eight finishes in both the one and three-meter springboard dives at the Big 12 Championship for the first time in her career. She recorded six-dive scores of 249.95 in the one-meter and 259.55 in the three-meter to finish eighth in both contests.

“(Her performance at the Big 12 Championship) will give her a lot more confidence,” KU diving coach Gabe Downey said. “She’s been having a little bit more trouble this year for whatever reason on the confidence piece. I think she’s going to have more focus going into it. That’s the biggest thing, she can do the dives, it’s whether she can get her head into it. Her performance will weigh on that.”

Downey will hope to see Khechfe replicate her Big 12 performance in Columbia, where she will face 43 divers in the one-meter and 41 in the three-meter. Khechfe will need to place in the top seven in either event to move on to the NCAA Championship. If she does qualify, it will be her first time competing in the NCAA Championship. Khechfe will start with the three-meter dive on Monday and finish the meet with the one-meter dive on Tuesday.

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