Defending champ looking to repeat
Paige Kalik took advantage of a rare opportunity a couple of weeks ago at the Westmoreland County Coaches Association meet.
Because divers only go through six rounds at WPIAL meets and 10 at some regional competitions, it’s a challenge to go to an event that allows for a full 11-dive program.
And she made the most of it. Kalik, a Penn-Trafford senior and Akron recruit, gave a glimpse into what may come at the WPIAL Class 3A diving finals Feb. 23 at North Allegheny when she finished with 515.95 points and defeated secondplace Jordyn Miller of Latrobe by 93.80, winning the WCCA title for the first time in the process.
“I do a lot of my harder dives in regular meets so I can get in some more practice on those,” Kalik said. “The [compulsory] dives I’m required to do, I know I can do those pretty easily.”
Last season, Kalik won the WPIAL title with 440.40 points and beat the favorite, Hampton’s Adrienne White, by 17.35. This year, though, Kalik will be the favorite and knows all eyes will be on her to be the first to repeat as the Class 3A champion since Maria Lohman of Chartiers Valley won three in a row from 2013-15.
“I just have to go out there and do my best,” Kalik said. “I know there will be pressure, but I have to just concentrate on my dives and be prepared.”
Most of the WPIAL competitors that she will see at North Allegheny have not had an 11dive event in high school this year. That does not mean, however, that Kalik will automatically win this in a runaway.
Junior Katelyn Caccamo of Seneca Valley, who is the No. 2 returning finisher from last year, has one of the best six-dive finishes in the WPIAL with a 256.10 and will be among the challengers. Sophomore Maya Ennis of North Allegheny, who was fifth last year, posted a 251.25 in a meet against Upper St. Clair and will also contend.
Class 2A girls
Ringgold senior Anna Vogt is the defending champion and opened the year by breaking her own school record in a nonsection meet against Connellsville. All she has done since was to shatter it time and again.
After that 226.45 against the Falcons, she had a 257.85 against Trinity, a 257.90 against Elizabeth Forward, 274.85 against Seton LaSalle and, last week, a 276.15 against Uniontown.
Her improvement makes her a favorite to repeat heading into the WPIAL finals on Friday at South Park.
Taylor Hockenberry of Mars was the previous diver to repeat in the classification when she won back-to-back WPIAL and state titles in 2015 and 2016.
Class 3A boys
For the past two years, WPIAL Class 3A diving has been separated into two divisions.
Jonah Cagley and everybody else.
Cagley, a Fox Chapel senior, two-time WPIAL champion and Duke recruit, has dominated the area the past two seasons. Last year, he finished with 514.85 points, 22.15 better than second-place finisher Owen Johns of Mt. Lebanon and 35.05 better than his Fox Chapel teammate David Manelis.
This year, however, things might not be as simple.
Johns has closed the gap a bit and may have a better qualifying score heading into the WPIAL finals. Earlier this month, he hit a 347.40 against Bethel Park, the best six-dive showing in the WPIAL this year according to paswimming.com and an improvement over Cagley’s best reported score of 333.60 from last week’s meet against Franklin Regional.
Not all schools submit their times and scores to the web site.
Class 2A boys
Kyle Maziarz was relatively unknown when he won the WPIAL and PIAA Class 2A diving titles last year.
Now, he’s going to be favored to do it again.
Maziarz, who finished with 427.00 points to win the WPIAL title last year, already has a sixdive score of 305.10 from a meet against Seneca Valley. In the same meet a year ago, he scored only 245.15 points.
Beaver senior Andrew Cestra, who came in 46.05 points back in third place and is the top returning challenger, has also improved. Earlier this week, he won the MAC diving title at Moon with 475.30 points to set a meet record.