Feb. 26, 2004
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- The 2004 Pac-10 Diving Championships got underway in impressive fashion for Arizona State as Joona Puhakka and Trisha Tumlinson each won conference titles. Puhakka dominated the field in the 1-meter, scoring a 381.20 in the finals to secure an almost 50-point victory to defend his conference title in the event. For the women, Tumlinson captured her first league crown by winning the 3-meter with a school-record score of 520.95, bettering Katrina Pfeuffer's 516.70 set in 2000.
For the sophomore Puhakka, he defended his crown with confidence to claim his third conference title in two years. He is the reigning title holder in the 3-meter to be held tomorrow. Other Sun Devil men at the meet include junior Gordon Blukis, junior Thomas McCrummen and sophomore Brant Bingham. Blukis advanced to the final round where he finished seventh with a score of 272.05. McCrummen placed tenth overall (266.30) and Bingham placed 14th (244.85), scores that were registered in the day's prelims.
Tumlinson overwhelmed the field in the 3-meter after finishing fifth in the afternoon preliminaries. The junior's win in the final round came by a margin of better than 40 points. She was the only Sun Devil to advance to the final round, yet all other ASU competitors scored at the meet. Senior Jessica Stenson finished 10th (404.70), freshman Cassidy Farwell placed 16th (343.20) while junior Nicole Zukowski came in 18th (339.05).