June 9, 2004
ST. PETERS, MO –
University of Iowa diver Nancilea Underwood advanced to Saturday’s three-meter springboard finals at the U.S. Olympic diving team trials in St. Peters, MO. The junior from Spring, TX, placed third in the prelims with a score of 313.23 and fourth in the semifinals with a score of 521.07. All scores from the preliminaries and semifinals will carry over to the finals, and the top two finishers in the event will be nominated to the U.S. Olympic team. Underwood’s competition includes preliminary and semifinal winner Kimiko Soldati, preliminary and semifinal runner-up Rachelle Kunkel and 2000 Olympians Michelle Davison and Sara Hildebrand. University of Iowa Diving Coach Bob Rydze is a judge at the competition.
Underwood has had national and international success en route to the Olympic Trials. She placed second in the three-meter springboard event at the 2004 Speedo American Cup Championship in April and placed fourth at the American World Cup in January.
2004 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS
Three-Meter Springboard Semifinals (Top Five)
1. Kimiko Soldati (Centralized Training Center) 557.40
2. Rachelle Kunkel (Trojan Dive Club) 538.44
3. Michelle Davison (MIA) 531.30
4. Nancilea Underwood (Iowa) 521.07
5. Sara Hildebrand (Indiana Diving) 500.19