Diving is just one event in the CIF swimming program yet it is unique in that it has a day reserved to itself.
With 102 divers competing at last Friday’s San Diego Section finals, administrators may, in fact, have to reserve two days for the diving competition.
Diving has clearly rebounded to command a star presence on annual swim calendars.
Fifteen years ago an entry field of 16 divers was considered a good turnout.
“It had reached a stage participation-wise where we were concerned about this event,” San Diego Section aquatics director Brian Wilbur said.
Section officials took action.
The section dropped its 11-dive finals in favor of a more streamlined six-dive card. Participation numbers increased without the need to learn extra dives.
The sport has become increasingly popular among high school girls. Last Friday’s finals featured 57 female and 45 male divers.
Besides the reduction in the dive card, the presence of more clubs dedicated to diving has also helped increase participation numbers.
Last Friday’s finals started with warm-ups at 8:30 a.m. for the girls meet; the boys awards ceremony ended at 6:15 p.m. It made for a long day.
However, the grace and beauty of the dives more than made up for the marathon finish.
San Ysidro sophomore Eva Reyes captured second place in the Division I girls field to highlight the showing for the two Metro Conference divers who competed in the meet.
Reyes, who scored 297.40 points, will be among the section’s top four divers who qualified to compete in this weekend’s state championship meet at the Clovis Olympic Swim Complex at Clovis West High School.
The girls finals start at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May 10; the boys finals are scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 11.
Joining Reyes in Clovis are Division I champion Jaye Patrick of Canyon Crest Academy, Division II champion Makenna Sammons of La Jolla High School and Westview’s Maegan Jensen, who finished third in the Division I field.
Patrick scored a meet high 318.55 points while Sammons racked up 300.30 points. Jensen pushed Reyes to the end for the Division I silver medal with 291.60 points.
Reyes, the reigning two-time South Bay League champion, was understandably elated.
“When we started the meet it was so cold that it was hard to jump,” Reyes recounted. “During the meet I got warm; I started to get my dives.”
Dan Kovar, Reyes’s dive coach, admitted that divers had challenges to overcome.
“We were having problems in getting in synch with the dive board, which was new to her (the venue at Mesa College),” Kovar said. “It was also tough with 57 divers competing – you dove once every hour. There was understandably trouble keeping focus. We sneaked through with second place, which is good for her first full year of high school diving.
“This will put her in good position for next year. I’m really looking at state now with a good feeling.”
“I don’t know what to expect at the state meet but I’m going to do my best,” Reyes said. “Next year I want to win CIF.”
The top eight divers in each gender field received medals at last Friday’s CIF finals.
Following Patrick, Reyes and Jensen on the Division I medal list were Poway’s Morgan Thomson in fourth place with 263.40 points, Valhalla’s Olivia Zamudio in fifth place with 262.15 points, Westview’s Maya Belanger in sixth place with 227.35 points, Torrey Pines’ Ali Polidori in seventh place with 223.55 points and Valhalla’s Jordan Alstad in eighth place with 208.60 points.
Alstad is a freshman while Zamudio is a sophomore. Both were excited to earn a medal.
“It’s nice to do this against upperclassmen because we’re so young,” Alstad said. “We both exceeded our expectations. I didn’t think I would medal at all.”
A total of 10 divers exceeded 200 points in the Division I meet. Rancho Bernardo’s Jessica Dillen finished ninth with 207.00 points while Granite Hills’s Alyssa Black was 10th with 204.75 points.
Two more divers exceeded the section’s automatic qualifying standard of 190 points: Patrick Henry’s Natalie Mayen finished 11th with 194.00 points while Westview’s Anabella Moslogo was 12th with 190.10 points.
Six divers exceeded 200 points in the Division II girls field. The Bishop School’s Leah Parsons finished second in the 26-deep field with 263.65 points, followed by La Jolla’s Jordan Mariani in third place with 234.40 points, La Jolla Country Day’s Lauren Miller in fourth place with 226.20 points, Cathedral Catholic’s Bowie Krawczyk in fifth place with 223.10 points and Classical Academy’s Katrina Chatton in sixth place with 204.60 points.
La Costa Canyon’s Brooke Braband (seventh, 199.50 points) and Tri-City Christian’s Grace Gooding (eighth, 197.65 points) rounded out the Division II medalists.
In the boys finals, 31 divers competed in the Division I field while 14 divers competed in the Division II field.
Granite Hills junior Reece Robles won the Division I title with 283.70 points while West Hills senior Devin Hunt repeated as the Division II champion with 315.40 points.
West Hills High School senior Devin Hunt repeated as the San Diego Section Division II champion after upping his winning score from last year. Photo by Phillip Brents
Joining the pair of East County divers at this weekend’s state meet are San Pasqual’s Jacob Rewa and Del Norte’s Samuel Schneider.
Rewa finished second in the Division I field with 282.20 points while Schneider finished third with 271.05 points.
Robles trailed Rewa until nailing a crowd-pleasing high scoring dive in the final round to move ahead to claim the title.
Division I medal-winners also included Poway’s Thomas Nugent (fourth, 2345.10 points), Valhalla’s Matthew Ramey (fifth, 211.80 points), Poway’s Connor Curtin (sixth, 211.50 points), Carlsbad’s Joseph Measer (seventh, 208.40 points) and Torrey Pines’ William Lutz (eighth, 205.45 points).
Olympian’s Diego Mungia, who finished fifth at the Mesa League finals with 140.05 points, finished 23rd in the 31-deep field with 160.80 points.
Division II medal-winners also included Ramona’s Jacob Nelson (second, 237.00 points), Point Loma’s Zachary Greene (third, 234.60 points), La Jolla’s Grant Pauker (fourth, 204.85 points), Mt. Carmel’s Devan Anderson (fifth, 196.40 points), La Jolla Country Day’s Ethan Estrada (sixth, 184.70 points) and the Ramona tandem of Caden Clark (seventh, 182.25 points) and Frank Trout (eighth, 177.65 points).
East County divers sweep CIF division titles
Throughout the decades one thing has been a constant within the San Diego Section aquatics community: East County continues to produce championship divers.
It was no different this year as Granite Hills junior Reece Robles captured the Division I championship and West Hills senior Devin Hunt won his second consecutive Division II title in competition Friday, May 3, at San Diego Mesa College.
Robles spoke about tradition after entering his name in the section record book’s annual list of CIF champions.
“This is my third year on the team and I’ve watched my friends win CIF — Cody Dreesen (Granite Hills) my freshman year and Jack Macceca (Patrick Henry) my sophomore year — so I wanted to continue that tradition,” he said.
A quick check of the elite list shows just how dominant East County divers have been in recent years.
Valhalla’s Tanner Knorr won four consecutive Division II titles from 2004-2007 while Granite Hills’ Kevin Dreesen won Division I titles in 2009 and 2001. Cody Dreesen, Kevin’s younger brother, won three consecutive Division I titles from 2015-17.
Santana’s Chase Webster won back-to-back Division II championships in 2013-14 while Christian’s Cole Owens won back-to-back Division II titles in 2016-17.
Grossmont’s Randin Lambrecht won the Division II title in 2003. Steele Canyon’s Ryan Krantz won the Division II title in 2012. Grossmont’s Tyler Jewel won the Division I gold medal in 2013.
In fact, Jewel and Webster made it an East County sweep of both division titles in 2013.
Hunt won the 2018 title with 301.30 points in the six-dive program; he eclipsed that this year with his winning total of 315.40 points.
“It’s nice to end my senior year as a champion,” Hunt said. “I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to dive after injuring my foot but my mother encouraged me to compete, and I’m glad I did.”
The West Hills diver won by a commanding margin over runner-up Jacob Nelson of Ramona (237.00 points) and third-place finisher Zachary Greene of Point Loma (234.60 points).
“I owe a lot to coach Roland McDonald at the Aztecs Divers San Diego club,” Hunt said. “I dove with them for eight months and I improved so much. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without their help.”
Robles will be bidding to win his second consecutive CIF diving championship next year after out-pointing this year’s Division I field.
Robles used a strong final dive to edge San Pasqual’s Jacob Rewa by just 1.5 points to capture the gold medal.
“I was confident I would do well,” said Robles, who credited his background in gymnastics as an asset. “I try not to get too stressed out. Having fun is one of my go-to’s in a meet, getting on the board and having a smile on my face.”
“His dives are executed so gracefully,” Granite Hills coach Ron Ortiz noted.
Robles’ top score for six dives this season is 303.75 points and 455.35 points for 11 dives.
He scored 252.80 points last year to place fourth and 243.70 for fifth place as a freshman.
He said he would like to continue his diving career in college.
“I like being around my teammates, they push me,” Robles said. “It’s a lot of fun … seeing yourself evolve and progress is really cool.”
Del Norte’s Samuel Schneider finished third with 271.05 points while Poway’s Thomas Nugent was fourth with 234.10 points.
Valhalla senior Matthew Ramey finished fifth with 211.80 points after placing fifth last year and sixth as a sophomore.
“Today was not one of my best days but I’m still happy with my performance against some really good divers,” Ramey said.
The top four divers, regardless of division, earned the right to compete in this weekend’s state championship meet at the Clovis Olympic Swim Complex at Clovis West High School. Hunt and Reece, along with Rewa and Schneider, will represent the San Diego Section in the boys program.
Schneider recorded the section’s top regular season mark of 472.65 points.
A total of 14 East County divers competed at last Friday’s boys finals. The top eight finishers received medals.
Helix had four divers compete in the Division I boys field: sophomore Avery Baker (13th, 192.40 points), freshman John Funk (20th, 168.15 points), sophomore Stone Eastman (21st, 166.35 points) and freshman Miles Ball (28th, 144.15 points).
Baker entered the meet with a high of 174.7 points after placing sixth at the league finals.
Funk’s highest point total during the regular season was 189.1 points.
The youthful foursome begs one to watch in upcoming seasons. In fact, each of the Highlander divers performed at least one dive to applause from the capacity crowd. Eastman executed one of the more graceful dives on the day.
Steele Canyon also had four divers compete in the Division I boys field: Austin Moore (18th, 172.40 points), Mason Turley (19th, 170.25 points), Ty Hunt (27th, 149.80 points) and Joel Arias (30th, 136.25 points).
Granite Hills’s Tyler Ervin, a championship mountain bike racer, finished in 24th place in the Division I dive card with 160.35 points.
Santana’s Logan Wade finished 12th among Division II divers with 146.20 points while the El Capitan tandem of Dawson Wright (144.00 points) and Jefferson Liddle (134.05 points) finished 13th and 14th, respectively.
A total of 45 boys competed between the two divisions. Overall, 102 divers competed in both gender fields, including 57 in the girls field.
Canyon Crest Academy’s Jaye Patrick won the Division I girls title with 318.55 points, followed by San Ysidro’s Eva Reyes with 297.40 points.
La Jolla’s Makenna Sammons won the Division II girls title with 300.30 points.
The four divers representing the section at the girls state finals include Patrick, Sammons, Reyes and Westview’s Maegen Jensen, who finished third in the Division I field with 291.60 points.
A pair of Valhalla divers earned medals in the Division I girls field: sophomore Olivia Zamudio finished fifth with 262.15 points while freshman Jordan Alstad was eighth with 208.60 points.
“It’s nice to do this against upperclassmen because we’re so young,” Alstad said. “We both exceeded our expectations. I didn’t think I would medal at all.”
Granite Hills had two divers compete in the Division I girls field: Alyssa Black (10th, 204.75 points) and Audrey Laskey (19th, 176.40 points).
Steele Canyon’s Halle Severson finished 27th with 151.00 points among Division I girls.
Twenty-six girls competed in the Division II finals.
West Hills’s Adrienne Riley finished ninth in the Division II girls dive card with190.30 points while Santana’s Lexie Caraveo placed 13th with 174.10 points.
El Capitan’s Chelsea Schoonderwoerd finished 15th with 166.45 points, followed by Santana’s Kimberly Murphy with 164.75 points in 16th place.
Santana’s Annie Auer finished 19th with 162.15 points while West Hills’s Madison Shelton was 22nd with 153.55 points. El Capitan’s Sophia Morton placed 24th with 151.50 points.
The girls state finals start at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May 10; the boys state finals start at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 11.
For updates, visit the website at www.cifstate.org.
State Meet Results are in: San Ysidro’s Eva Reyes is top female finisher from San Diego Section in seventh place!
CIF Photo Gallery by Phillip Brents
