March 13, 2004

Results

Bloomington - Erin Blemberg and Hannah Burgard qualified for this year's NCAA Zone C Diving Championships off of strong performances at the Horizon League Swimming and Diving Championships. In doing so, both knew that moving on to the NCAA Championships would be tough, but that didn't stop the two University of Wiscosnin-Milwaukee divers from trying to represent their university proudly. At the end of the day, Blemberg finished 17th (399.95 pts.) on the 3-meter board while Burgard added a 24th-place finish (235.40 pts.).

Although neither Panther was able to advance to the NCAA Championships, both found ways to end their season on a positive note. For Blemberg, a sophomore out of Appleton, this meet may be a catapult to an even strong diving career at UWM.

"Erin is a very talented diver," Panther diving coach Todd Hill said. "I have no doubts in my mind that this meet could be something that she frequents in the next couple of years."

For Burgard, the story is a little bit different. This year's zone diving championships marks the end of the senior's collegiate diving career. Burgard was consistently one of the Panther top finishers throughout her stay at UWM and always made her efforts noticeable.

"Hannah is a competitor," Hill said. "She's always trying to get better. I'm sure she would have liked to have a better point total than what she scored today, but she seems to know that not a whole lot of people qualify for this meet and qualifying is pretty special."

The NCAA Zone C Diving Championships officially close out the 2003-04 swimming and diving season for the Panthers.