FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Following an impressive round of dives at the NCAA Zone E Diving Championships, Nevada senior Sharae Zheng and junior Sio I Lei have qualified for the 1-meter springboard at this year's NCAA Championships. Zheng finished in first with a score of 647.35, while Lei placed fifth scoring 575.10 points.
 
After beginning the day by winning the preliminary round, Zheng followed her performance with another set of successful dives in the finals, averaging a score of 53.03 to outlast Eloise Belanger of UCLA by nearly 40 points, who finished second. This marks the third year in a row that Zheng will compete in the 1-meter springboard at the NCAA Championships, where she was crowned with the title in 2016 and placed sixth last year.
 
For Lei, she averaged 47.16 points per round in the prelims, which was one of the highest average round scores amongst the 59 competitors. She finished the opening rounds in seventh place and improved on her standing in the finals, placing fifth with a total score of 575.10 points. This will be the second consecutive year that Lei will compete in the NCAA Championships as she participated in the platform dive a year ago.
 
Junior Toma Shmitova also represented the Wolf Pack on the opening day of the NCAA Zone E Championships, placing 22^nd in the 1-meter springboard prelims with a score of 250.30. The NCAA Zone E Championships continues on Tuesday, where all three of Nevada's divers will look to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 3-meter springboard.