The San Diego Section boys and girls diving championships took place last Friday at Granite Hills High School. Six East County girls and three East County boys competed against a North County-heavy lineup.
Torrey Pines senior Ezra Purcell won the Division I boys card with a top score of 321.95 points while Cathedral Catholic junior Micah Finley topped the Division I girls field with a score of 240.40 points.
Division II winners included Pacific Ridge senior Mason Hood with 238.10 points (boys) and Mt. Carmel sophomore Sol D’Angelo with 257.00 points (girls).
Finley, D’Angelo and Hood all successfully defended their division titles while Purcell moved up from last year’s second-place finish.
A total of 51 student-athletes (32 girls, 19 boys) participated in this year’s six-dive field. Interest remains high on the girls side for those with gymnastics and cheerleading backgrounds.
El Capitan High School contributed three divers to the total — sophomore Benjamin Brook¬shire (Division II boys), junior Ryley Brittingham (Division II girls) and senior Brookylnn Miller (Division II girls).
Brookshire, a first-year diver, placed fourth in the six-deep Division II field with 154.90 points while Brittingham finished 10th in the 14-deep Division II field with 163.00 points. Miller, the only para-diver in the state, finished 14th with 77.50 points.
Brookshire edged Coastal Academy sophomore Jeremiah Love by a scant 0.05 points.
“Awesome, inspired,” El Capitan dive coach Craig Schoonderwoerd said in regard to Brook¬shire’s debut at the CIF level. “Benjamin had no dive experience coming into the season and he placed fourth at the CIF level his first year.”
Overall, nine East County divers competed at last Friday’s finals.
Granite Hills junior Chance Hall (seventh, 185.60 points) and Helix Charter sophomore Jona¬than Clay (11th, 167.75 points) both placed in the Division I boys field and Grossmont junior Addyson Clark (fifth, 188.50 points), Granite Hills sophomore Laynie Allen (seventh, 172.10 points), Steele Canyon senior Cortlyn Patterson (eighth, 171.55 points) and Steele Canyon senior Keira Glasson (ninth, 168.75 points) placed in the Division I girls field.
Brittingham was fifth at last year’s CIF finals while Clark, a repeat Grossmont Hills League dive champion, was ninth.
Hall was among the return¬ing challengers after winning his third consecutive Grossmont Hills League boys dive title. He turned in a sensational freshman season with an intrepid third-place finish at the Division I meet en route to advancing to the state meet.
He was 10th in last year’s 16-deep Division I field with 195.10 points as a sophomore.
Hall has started to concentrate more on swimming than diving the past two seasons but remains competitive in the elite group with a score of 185.60 points to place mid-range in the field of 13 Division I boys. He finished just 12 points out of fourth place.
“It’s cool,” the three-time league dive champion said. “I’ve improved a lot in the 100 breaststroke. I want to get the school record.”
Hall is getting there after placing second in the event at this year’s league finals with a time of 1:01.87 — a tick behind He¬lix Charter junior Gunnar Balma (1:01.33).
League finals
Brookshire finished first at the Grossmont Valley League finals, followed by teammate Aiden Powers in second place.
Brittingham, a third-year diver, won the league title, followed by senior Macy Macling, another third-year diver, and senior Madison Mulligan, a second-year diver.
“The competition at CIF allows them to see a lot of club divers,” Schoonderwoerd said. “We don’t have any club divers. It’s great for them to see that next level of diving.”
Next level
That competition is growing and forces divers to stay on the top of their game; that often includes off-season training and club competition.
D’Angelo, who trains with Sol Aquatics, based at Southwestern College, improved her score from last year by 11 points to stay on top of the Division II leaderboard.
“This was a lot stronger competition than last year,” Sol Aquatics dive coach Dan Kovar said. “She’s diving more difficult dives to keep learning to stay abreast of the competition.”
