University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Polyakova Honored as Pac-12 Diver of the Year
March 28, 2017 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES โ Maria Polyakova (Penza, Russia/Moscow Prep School) has been named the Pac-12 Women's Diver of the Year, as announced by the league Tuesday. The award is the first for a UCLA diver since Kristen Walls earned the conference's first honor in 1994.
Polyakova earned her second Pac-12 Championship in as many years, and her first in the 3-meter competition, during four days of action at the Pac-12 Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way, Wash (Feb. 22-25). The junior racked up a final-round score of 385.00 to clinch the victory. She also reached the podium in the 1-meter and platform events, as well. Polyakova finished just short of a sweep of the springboard events with a final-round score of 335.75 in the 1-meter competition, but went on to post a personal-best score of 259.70 to take third in the tower.
No Bruin diver had ever earned the Diver of the Meet honor at Pac-12s until Polyakova claimed the award on the final day of competition. The junior went on to be named the conference's Diver of the Month for February, during which she also recorded Top-3 finishes in the 3-meter and 1-meter events in UCLA's meet at USC (Feb. 10).
Her Pac-12 performance set the tone for Polyakova's trip to the NCAA Zone E Championships in Flagstaff, Ariz. from March 6-8. There, she set two school records with first-place scores of 398.75 and 339.05 in the 3-meter and 1-meter events, respectively. Those scores qualified the junior for a trip to Indianapolis and the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
Polyakova capped her impressive junior year with Top-5 showings in both of the springboard events at NCAAs. She posted a final-round score of 325.80 in the 1-meter competition to finish third, as well as one of 351.80 in the 3-meter event to finish fifth. In total, Polyakova contributed 30 points to the Bruins' overall tally. She earned CSCAA All-American honors in both events.
The Russian native added to her already impressive February with a second-place finish in the 3-meter event at the Russian Cup in Moscow (Feb. 2-3). The performance was Polyakova's best in her home country's national meet.
