March 21, 2003

Auburn, Ala. - The Notre Dame women's swimming and diving team began competition at the 2003 NCAA Championship meet on Thursday. Competing in the one-meter diving for the Irish was Meghan Perry-Eaton (Jr., Brandon, Fla.). Perry-Eaton finished ninth in the event with a score of 271.40. Yulia Pakhalina of Houston won the event after earning a score of 339.70 in the finals.

Perry-Eaton is the second diver in Notre Dame history to qualify for the NCAA Championships. With her ninth-place finish, Perry-Eaton became only the second Irish diver in history to earn honorable mention All-America honors.

Perry-Eaton will hit the pool again in the three-meter diving competition on Friday. The top eight divers from the afternoon preliminaries will advance to the finals later in the evening. Also competing for Notre Dame on Friday will be Marie Labosky (Jr., Churchville, Pa.) in the 400 IM, Lisa Garcia (Jr., Denver, Colo.) in the 100 butterfly and Danielle Hulick (Jr., Galesburg, Ill.) in the 100 backstroke.