Lake Forest College's Christina Pekar, Sarah Pekar, and Matt Demirs were among 58 competitors at the NCAA Division III Region 1 Diving Competition at the University of Chicago over the weekend. While the official announcement will not be made until Monday, Christina Pekar's fourth-place finish in Saturday's 3-meter event will qualify her for the NCAA Championship Meet for the third straight season.
Christina Pekar also finished sixth in Friday's 1-meter competition with 446.40 points. She was tied for first after the opening round of dives but dropped a pair of places in the standings in each of the next three rounds. She fell to eighth after her eighth dive but moved up a spot in both the ninth and 11th rounds of the 11-round event.
Fellow senior Sarah Pekar, who also qualified for the regional meet last year, finished 24th on Friday with 399.75 points. Her place fluctuated between 26th and 15th throughout the compeition.
The men began with the 3-meter competition on Friday and freshman Matt Demirs placed 28th with 336.55 points.
Both Pekar sisters were among the top seven throughout Saturday's 3-meter event. They were tied for second place after the opening round and Sarah was tied for the lead after her second dive. She dropped to seventh place through six dives before moving up a spot in round 10. She placed sixth with 465.60 points, just 4.30 points behind the fifth-place finisher who qualified for the national meet.
Christina Pekar was second, third, or fourth throughout Saturday's competition. Her final score of 474.60 points was good for fourth place and earned her one of the regional meet's seven spots at the NCAA Championships.
Demirs was also 28th off the 1-meter board on Saturday with 381.45 points.
Christina Pekar will join Forester sophomore Sam Freedberg and freshman Victoria Karker at the 2015 NCAA Division III Championship Meet in Shenandoah, Texas, March 18-21. The meet will be held at the CISD Natatorium and will be hosted by the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and the City of Shenandoah.
