Four Berks divers qualify for states
Four Berks divers finished in the top five and qualified for the state meet at the District 3 Class 3A championships Saturday, including one who clinched his spot on the final dive of the meet.
Gov. Mifflin senior Noah Clipman finished third with 398.05 points, Twin Valley senior Chris George was fourth with 378.60 and Wilson junior Joey Flowers finished fifth with 373.10 to earn spots in the boys PIAA championships March 11 at Bucknell University.
In the girls meet, Wilson sophomore Saphia Elkhyati moved into fifth place in preliminaries and held that spot throughout to finish with 354.55 points and earn a spot in the state meet March 12 at Bucknell.
Clipman earned his third trip to states while George, Flowers and Elkhyati all made it for the first time.
The defending champion, Clipman was in second place after the preliminary round of dives and third after semifinals. While he closed with a pair of strong dives, earning 44.4 and 42.9 points, he fell short of winner Stephen Barlett of Northeastern (436.40) and runner-up Charles Holte of Hershey (404.75).
“At the end of the day, it just wasn’t my day,” said Clipman. “We’ll see what happens at states. It’ll be a lot of fun. I made it, and that was one of the big goals.”
George was sixth after preliminaries, moved into fifth place on his sixth dive, dropped back to sixth for two rounds and regained the fifth spot entering the final three dives. He moved into fourth place on his next-to-last dive.
“I had a couple rough dives,” said George. “I was taught to take it one dive at a time. Just let go of the bad dives, and that’s what I did.”
That earned him a spot in the state meet on his final chance to qualify.
“Last shot,” said George, whose best previous finish was eighth. “It’s definitely exciting.”
Flowers was in third place after the first five dives and stayed in the top six throughout the meet, but needed a strong finish to clinch his spot at states. In sixth place and diving in the 16th and final position, he needed 35 points to move up a spot. He scored 47.5 to reach his goal of qualifying for states after finishing seventh last year.
“It was a goal, and it came down to my last dive,” he said. “As soon as I saw that score, I knew. The whole time I was just trying my hardest to see what I could do.”
Elkyati started with a strong dive and was consistent throughout, maintaining the fifth spot through every round.
“The whole week I was like I hope I’m going to make states,” she said. “So I’m really excited to be able to go.”
“Last year I got 11th place and this year I got fifth, so I’m really happy I improved. It’s my first year going to states and my second year diving, so it’s very exciting.”
Gov. Mifflin sophomore Carter Sweigart earned a medal in the boys meet with an eighth-place finish with 355.15 points and Mifflin junior Sydney Barnett medaled in the girls meet, finishing sixth with 335.65.