CWNC sophomore Maziarz looking for big things
Tri-State Sports & News Service
Kyle Maziarz does not look like a diver. And he knows it. “Everyone is like where did this guy come from,” the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic sophomore said. “He’s like a giant.”
Maziarz looks more like a swimmer — or a basketball player — than a diver. His 6-foot-4 frame looks like it would never comfortably contort and spin in anything resembling a graceful maneuver.
Then again, he did win the WPIAL Class 2A diving title this year in his first attempt.
“I was always a diver when I was young and then I took a break to swim and do a little gymnastics and I didn’t do anything for like a three-year period,” Maziarz said. “Last year I swam and there were only six guys that dived and my coach said if you dive, you make it to state, so I trained and I got into it.”
Maziarz will head to the PIAA Class 2A championships at Bucknell University’sKinney Natatorium as the No. 6 seed in his classification after earning 427.00 points in the WPIAL finals, with Laurel Highlands senior John Ek right behind himin seventh at 417.10.
Winning a state championship will be difficult, though, as Quinn Rollman of Shamokin Area is a heavy favorite with a seed score of 566.45.
“I train down at Pitt, it’s my club team, and right now we’re just getting back into conditioning because we took a long break. We’re going to work on building up the legs because I can go higher,” Maziarz said. “I’m so tall, I need to get high in the air and I’m trying to work on my leg muscles.”
No WPIAL diver has won a boys Class 2A state title since Justin Duncan of South Park in 2008
Class 2A girls
Anna Vogt of Ringgold and Elizabeth Forward senior Jordan Vasko battled it out for the WPIAL Class 2A title.
In fact, Vogt, a Rams junior, came away with a nail-biting 1.95-point victory to win her first title.
They’ll both have a lot of work to do if they want to evenmedal at the state meet.
Vogt’s score of 354.70 in the WPIAL finals has her seeded 13th in the competition with Vasko in at 14th. They would have to move up five and six spots, respectively, to medal.
Class 3A boys
Perhaps the WPIAL’s best chance for a diving medal will be in the Class 3A boys where Fox Chapel junior Jonah Cagey comes in as the No. 2 seed behind Abington junior Sam Henninger, who posted an eye-popping 606.10 inthe District 1 finals.
Cagley finished third a year ago.
Owen John of Mt. Lebanon and Foxes freshman David Manelis are also in the top eight.
Class 3A girls
Penn-Trafford junior Paige Kalik was something of a surprise winner in the WPIAL Class 3A finals, but she will have her work cut out for her if she is going to make a move and come home with a medal.
Kalick is seeded 13th heading into the state championships and her score of 440.40 is well behind the 501.00 of topseeded sophomore Meghan Wenzel of North Penn. WPIAL runner-up Adrienne White of Hampton is seeded 16th and Latrobe’s Taylor Miller is 19th.