AUSTIN (3/14/03) -- North Texas senior diver Melissa Whitaker (San Antonio Churchill HS) saw her first action at the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships on Friday afternoon, finishing 24th in the three-meter event with a score of 177.35.

Whitaker set the school record in the three-meter diving event earlier this season, piling up 433.95 points at the Trinity Invitational. She will compete in the one-meter event Saturday, which is set to begin at 1:45 p.m.

Houston’s Yulia Pakhalina scored a 371.50 to lead the field for the second consecutive year. Azul Almazan (304.35, Houston) and Mandy Moran (298.60, Arkansas) rounded out the top-three finishers.