Albanna Finds Closure in NCAA Zones E Qualification

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Four years ago, she felt like she was shooting for the stars.

Entering her senior campaign, the goal was simply no more than a mountain to climb. Early on, Jessica Albanna planted her flag at the peak.

Starting Monday, the Colorado State senior diver from Albuquerque, N.M., will cap her collegiate career at the NCAA Zones E meet, held Monday through Wednesday at Kings Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Wash. Albanna will compete on the 3-meter springboard Monday and the 1-meter on Wednesday.

The competition represents a culmination and a celebration wrapped into one for her.

"I just want closure, I think. I didn't really get that when I quit gymnastics, a big last meet where I could just really showcase what I've learned and what I can do," Albanna said. "I just think closure as an athlete, closure as an acrobatic athlete. I just want to appreciate the things I can do with my body. That's the thing I'm most sad about parting with, being able to do a flip on demand and being able to jump and be confident and be upside down.

"Mostly, it's just closure and an exclamation point on the end of my career."

She's not the only one in a celebratory mood. Her coach, Chris Bergere has watched her grow from promising prospect to a leadership role, a skilled competitor mentally and physically. She nailed down her first zones cuts early, then kept repeating the result throughout the season.

The finished product was a final year where she set personal-best scores on all three boards, placed at the Mountain West Championships for the first time – and did so on all three. She graduates as one of three divers in program history to rank in the top 10 on all three.

It was such a good year, the coaches keep reminding her – wink, wink – a fifth year is available.

"I'm just really happy with her progression. She went from really a green diver to becoming a really good Division I athlete, and that's through her hard work," Bergere said. "I've done it before with some other kids, but you always have to have the kid working with you. It's not just my way or what I want, you have to work with that kid, and we worked really well together. I'm so pleased she had a great senior year. She's going to go out feeling good, and hopefully this will be the cherry on the sundae."

Success is subjective in a sport which is scored, not timed. They'll both keep that in mind with nearly 60 competitors vying for a few spots to the NCAA Championships.

It also comes about through consistency, which is the one area Albanna knows she's reached the greatest heights this season.

"I think within my dives and my scores. Who knows, maybe the scoring will be more relaxed than it has been in past years at zones," she said. "If I'm consistently getting scores, that's what I want. Just consistency, solid dives for the whole meet and hopefully placing in the top half of the competition to measure my success.

"It definitely is the thing I've developed, especially this year. Consistency in every meet and every dive. That's the thing I've improved on the most. It's not necessarily that my best dive has gotten better, but that all of my dives have gotten more consistent. It's definitely something you strive for in every meet. You just want to be consistent, be that bad or good. Consistency is positive in itself."

The top five females from all five zones on each board automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, but each zone gets additional qualifiers on each board based off previous year's results. On the 1-meter, E will send 6, 8 on both the 3-meter and platform.

Albanna's competitions both days begin at 12:30 p.m. (MT), with the finals set for 3:45. She will have a day off in between her two meets, both of which can be tracked at divemeets.com.

"I want her to have something positive come out of this. There are 60 divers in the contest, so our goal is to beat 50 percent, or if she has a really great day, be better than that," Bergere said. "I think that's realistic. She deserves to go. She's made the zones qualifying score six times, so I want this to be a good experience for her to end her career."

Albanna is hoping for the same. A goal, which started out as a dream became attainable the past two years through her persistence. Now that it's a reality, the stars she's shooting for don't seem out of reach.

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