For the first time in head diving coach Chris Waters’ time at Illinois, two divers competed at the NCAA Zone DivingChampionships, held this weekend at West Lafayette, Ind.

While neither diver qualified for next week’s NCAA Championships, both freshman Tessa Adams and sophomore Britni Fisher had a solid weekend. Fisher scored 203.60 in the one-meter dive and 164.90 in the three-meter dive. Adams marked 207.60 in the one-meter and 208.20 in the three-meter.

“Britni and Tessa had decent one-meter days, they dove fairly well. It was nothing spectacular, but they were pretty consistent,” Waters said. “In the three-meter, Tessa dove pretty well and Britni had a few hiccups. I can’t be upset as their coach.”

This was Fisher’s second year of Zones, and with that added experience came a better understanding of how to prepare all season long.

“Britni knows a little bit more, as a sophomore you worry about that second-year slump, but we didn’t see that with her,” Waters said. “All in all, I’m very happy with how her season went.”

While Fisher may have been more experienced, Waters felt Adams held her own, not only at the meet, but all season long.

“She’s a freshman and she learned how to dive against college competition, she got comfortable in the college atmosphere,” Waters said.

Over the past few weeks while the swimmers reduced their workload, Waters chose to steadily increase the divers’ practices and their workload in practice. Both Waters and the divers believed the extra training paid off.

“I know it helped and the girls know it helped,” Waters said. “Although we didn’t quite get the placement we wanted to, the extra reps in practice helped keep them in the right state of mind. They had the confidence in their ability to make the dive.”

The Zones were the last competition for the diving team this season; the swimmers finished at the Big Ten Championships and Last Chance Meet.

“It’s a nice way to wrap up the season,” Waters said. “In the future we would like to take this as a springboard to nationals.”

Because this meet was the last of the year, both divers have begun to consider their goals for next year.

“As is always the goal, next season is to do better. To train harder, perform better, compete better, place better,” Fisher said. “Ultimately, my goal for next season is to make it back to finals at Zones.”

Adams echoes that sentiment.

“My goals for next year are definitely to improve my dives from this year and work on more difficult dives to compete next year so that I can possibly move up in big meets like this,” Adams said.

Even with all of the distractions that come with being in an NCAA qualifying meet, Waters expressed happiness with how Adams and Fisher responded.

“The way they approached the meet and each dive, they got up there with the right state of mind,” Waters said.

Both divers said they were able to stay focused on the meet and enjoyed having a divers-only competition to end the season.

“I think for me, staying focused at this meet just meant staying loose and relaxed. I believe Big Tens really helped me learn that,” Adams said.