South Park, North Catholic earn titles
Eagles’ O’Connor, Trojanettes’ Foley prevail
Cole O’Connor stood in the corner of the pool area at North Allegheny after his final dive Friday at the WPIAL Class 2A finals and shook with nervous anticipation.
“It was back-and-forth the entire time,” the South Park diver said. “I try not to think about how back-andforth this entire meet went.”
Yet there he was in first place after he scored 46.20 points on an inward dive with two somersaults in the tuck position with a 2.6 degree of difficulty. But 2020 runner-up Simon Iwanonkiw of Quaker Valley and the leader heading into the final round, Hampton sophomore Koda Carslaw, were waiting in the wings.
“I do that dive last every WPIAL,’ O’Connor said. “It’s my best dive, it’s my most consistent dive and that’s why I always want to save it for last.”
His best was too much for anyone else to overcome, as neither Iwanonkiw nor Carslaw could catch him. O’Connor finished with a 404.80 to win the WPIAL Class 2A title by 7.75 over Iwanonkiw and 8.50 better than Carslaw.
He is the first South Park diver to win the title since Billy Rountree in 2012.
“When I realized I had the lead I was freaking out because, going into this, I didn’t think I would get first at all,” O’Connor said. “It was a moment that I couldn’t even think about because it’s a moment you dream about constantly, and very rarely does something like this become a reality and this is insane.”
Iwanonkiw led after the conclusion of six of the first seven rounds, but fell off the pace in the eighth. As he had the previous few cycles, O’Connor led after his dive, but this time Iwanonkiw couldn’t match him. Yet he still didn’t take the lead into the final three rounds, as Carslaw picked up 40.70 points to take the lead for the first time.
Carslaw, who finished ninth in Class 3A a year ago, was able to maintain his advantage through the next two rounds and went into the 11th round with a 4.70-point lead over O’Connor. But after O’Connor hit his dive, Carslaw was stuck with a back dive with two somersaults in the tuck position that only had a 2.0 degree of difficulty, which limited the number of points he could earn to catch the Eagles senior.
“I’d say it was the DD and the nerves because I was very nervous on that last dive,” Carslaw said. “He put a huge dive down and congratulations to him for winning.”
Had this been a different year, O’Connor would have been able to celebrate at his home pool, as South Park was the longtime host to the Class 2A finals. But he actually was quite pleased with having a bit of variety.
“Honestly, I like this pool better than the pool at my school,” O’Connor said. “During the dual meets during the season, I didn’t get to see any other pool except at my school, and I’m kind of glad it was here over my school.”
While the boys session was a nipand-tuck affair throughout, there was little drama in the Class 2A girls final as North Catholic sophomore Maggie Foley became the first female to win WPIAL titles as a freshman and sophomore since Maria Lohman of Chartiers Valley won the Class 2A title in 2012 and Class 3A in 2013. Foley finished with 441.05 — 0.60 points better than the 440.45 she posted in 2020 — to edge Central Valley senior Alexa Gonczi by 18.25.
“It’s very surreal and I was definitely not expecting this at all,” Foley said. “I knew it was going to be close, I had to stay focused and stay calm the whole time and try to have as much fun as I could.”
Had the finals only been five rounds, Foley would have lost as Gonczi hit a clutch dive in the fifth round to take a 197.65-192.50 lead at the first break. But Foley came back and took the lead in the sixth round.
“I looked at it and thought it was just a few points and everybody has their dives,” Foley said. “I can make it up, it will be OK and I had my next three dives, and the first and the last ones of the round went pretty good.”
Foley and O’Connor qualified for the PIAA Class 2A finals, which will be March 13 at Cumberland Valley High School. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, only the 10 eligible district champions will compete for the state title.