For immediate release

Local Diving Champion Signs with Arizona for Full Scholarship

Three-time Washington Post All-Met diver Mary Yarrison, 17, of Springfield, Virginia, has signed a National Letter of Intent to attend the University of Arizona, where she will train with Olympic silver medalist Michele Mitchell-Rocha for the 2004 Olympic trials while pursuing a double major in premedical studies and Spanish. Yarrison, a three-time national champion in springboard and platform diving and two-time high school All-American, is a senior in the International Baccalaureate program at Robert E. Lee High School in Fairfax County, where she maintains a 3.9 grade point average, plays in the school orchestra, and is active in student government. A varsity swim and dive team member at Lee since 1999, Yarrison swims in the butterfly and freestyle events and on two relay teams in addition to competing for Lee in 1-meter diving. The three-time Virginia state champion, who holds both the Liberty District and the Northern Virginia Region records, is undefeated in high school diving competition. Winner of back-to-back national Junior Olympic titles in 1-meter diving (2001 and 2002), she has been a member of the USA national team since 2000, completing most recently in the Junior Olympic World Championships in the summer of 2002, where she finished twelfth in the 1-meter event and 5th in 3-meter synchronized diving. Ranked first in her age group nationally in the 1-meter and 3-meter events, Yarrison will next compete in the American Cup International Invitational in Bloomington, Indiana in early January, before returning to her high school team for the remainder of the swim and dive season, which resumes January 10.