Two of the most decorated divers in UIC history closed their collegiate careers with appearances in the final round of NCAA Zone competition Tuesday.  Cydney Liebenberg advanced to the finals of the women's 3-meter event, and Felix Lafortune qualified for the men's 1-meter finals.

Liebenberg totaled 269.30 in the final round after posting a six-dive total of 283.45 in the prelims.  She was in position to enter the finals inside the top 10, before her final dive scored just 38.75.  She was still comfortably within the field (the top 18 divers advanced to finals), but was left without a realistic shot at one of the 10 slots in the national championships.

Lafortune put up a final round score of 279.60.  He scored 284.40 in the preliminary round, making the cut as the 18^th and final diver to advance to finals.  He secured his spot with dives scoring 49.40 on each of his last two attempts.

"I am really happy with how the team did these two days.  They competed with confidence against a very tough field of divers in both the men's and women's events," Susan Bromberg said.  "And I'm sure that those who have qualified to the NCAA Championship meet will do very well.  The seniors showed the freshmen how to compete at a high level, and now it is their turn to make a mark when we come back next year."

Freshman Cole Tremewan scored 282.00 in the prelims.  He was less than three points away from making the finals.  He had two dives worth more than 50 points in the middle of the round, but scored just 40.30 on his final dive after averaging over 48 points per dive to that point.

Ciara McCliment wrapped up her Zone appearance with a score of 248.40 on the 3-meter board.

Lafortune and Liebenberg finished their careers as Flames as the program's only two divers to qualify for Zone finals.  Each made a final round last year as well.  They both hold the school records in their respective 1- and 3-meter events.  Both are multiple-time Horizon League champions, combining to win 11 individual titles, and multiple Diver of the Meet winners.  Both also have an All-American selection to their credit.