DIVING

Three Aggies make NCAA meets: Texas A&M advanced three of its divers to their respective NCAA Championship meets after three days of competition at the NCAA Zone D Diving Regional at the Student Rec Center Natatorium.

Junior Jaele Patrick and sophomore Janie Potvin qualified for the NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships, while sophomore Grant Nel advanced to the NCAA Men's Championships. Patrick and Nel earned their qualifications Friday when Patrick placed third in the one-meter springboard and Nel placed first in the three-meter board. Potvin was a fifth-place finisher in the three-meter Saturday.

In Sunday's action, sophomore Lorena Lujan came within one place of advancing to the national meet with a fourth-place finish in the women's platform dive. Lujan finished with a score of 495.50, which was 2.30 points behind the last qualifier. Potvin placed 11th with 438.05 points.

Nel was third on the platform with a score of 739.70. Nel finished the weekend as the only diver - male or female - to place in the top three in all three events. Prior to Sunday, Nel had placed first in the three-meter and second in the one-meter.

"There is a lot of pressure involved with the Zone diving and they did a great of job of responding to that pressure," first-year A&M diving coach Jay Lerew said. "Grant did a terrific job all the way through. I'm very pleased with the way he is diving and he's ready for the NCAA Championships."

The NCAA Women's Championships will be held in West Lafayette, Ind., on March 18-20. The men will compete in Columbus, Ohio on March 25-27.

GOLF

Aggie men tie for third in Vegas: LAS VEGAS -- The Texas A&M men's golf team tied Southern California for third place in the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters on Sunday.

Seventh-ranked A&M shot a team score of 306 (18 over par) in the final round at the Southern Highlands Golf Club.

The team championship was shared by No. 14 UNLV and No. 12 UCLA, who finished at 35 over to best the Aggies and Trojans by nine shots. Texas Tech, which is ranked 19th, took fifth place at plus-47, eight strokes better than No. 4 Texas.

A&M's Andrea Pavan and Nacho Elvira tied for eighth place in the individual standings at 223, with Elvira shooting a closing-round 73 and Pavan at 74. Aggie Jordan Russell (79-229) tied for 21st. The other A&M players were Cameron Peck (80-234), Geoff Shaw (85-245) and John Hurley (82-245), who was competing as an individual.

Arizona State's Jesper Kennegard captured the individual crown by one stroke with a three-over total of 71-72-76--219.

"We can't be too disappointed to finish tied for third in this field," A&M coach J.T. Higgins said. "We beat a lot of quality teams and fought hard all week. The course was set up extremely difficult and the conditions were tough all week, but we came away with a good showing."

SOFTBALL

Aggies take tourney title by beating Bison: Freshman Meagan May was perfect at the plate with a pair of doubles and a home run as the Texas A&M softball team beat North Dakota State 5-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Aggie Softball Complex.

Pinch hitter Kara Rau delivered a two-out RBI single as the Aggies scored two runs in the fifth to wipe out a 2-1 deficit. A&M went 5-0 over the weekend to win the Aggie Invitational and improve to 22-6 overall.

May capped a 3-for-3 game in the sixth inning with her 10th home run of the season, a two-run blast.

The Bison (14-9) finished second in the tournament.

North Dakota State scored a run in the top of the first inning, but the 21st-ranked Aggies quickly tied the game on a two-out RBI single by Melissa Dumezich.

After the Bison regained the lead in the fifth, the Aggies answered again. A&M took the lead on two walks, a wild pitch, Rau's infield single and a throwing error.

Dumezich relieved starting pitcher Rebecca Arbino in the sixth. NDSU welcomed the freshman with consecutive one-out singles and moved both runners into scoring position, but Dumezich struck out the next two batters.

Arbino (10-3) earned her third win of the weekend. Dumezich picked up her first career save.

The Aggies will play in the San Diego Classic II next weekend.

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