HOUSTON, Texas-- University of North Dakota junior diver Rachael Waldbillig competed in the women's 3-meter springboard event at the NCAA Zone D, held Monday. She finished 44^th in the school's first trip to the NCAA Zone meet.

"Tough day for Rachael, we could not get lined up and find a good finish," UND diving coach Brian Strom said. "We had some good starts but could not finish. Rachael's better board comes on Tuesday. It's good to get the first day jitters out."

Waldbillig scored 197.90 in the preliminary round in her first appearance in the NCAA postseason event.  Maren Taylor of the University of Texas won the event with her combined 709.60 total between preliminaries and finals.

NCAA Zone D includes 12 Midwest states including: Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin. There are five zones and an allocated number of divers-- based on last year's performance of each particular zone-- will advance to the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, Ind. later this month.

Waldbillig will compete in the 1-meter event Tuesday.