Three Divers Headed for State Competition
On Saturday, January 2nd, the Cambridge divers took to the boards at the Cumming Aquatic Center in the Lambert Holiday Invitational. Divers had the opportunity to complete 6 or 11 dives in the competition, but an 11-dive sequence is required for state qualification.
Divers Simon Finlayson and Maddie Chaloux already had qualifying performances earlier in the season, but this meet was a chance for them to practice their routines and try some new dives. Finlayson chose to complete 6 dives and finished in first place among the other 6-dive competitors. Finlayson took first by almost 100-points over the next competing male. Finlayson is improving his technique and is getting more confident on the boards. He has become very impressive to watch.
Turner Mignerey put up an impressive performance on Saturday. For the first time, Mignerey was performing 11 dives in an attempt to qualify for state. Mignerey had some very solid dives that got him scores as high as 7 ½ which is the best he has done all season, and his performance earned him 4th place. At the end of his performance, Mignerey scored 361.3, which is well above a qualifying score and he had the proper level of difficulty to qualify for state, so he will be joining Chaloux and Finlayson at Georgia Tech in February. As a sophomore, this is incredibly promising for the Cambridge program to be establishing depth for the years to come.
For the girls' team, Chaloux was the only diver to complete 11 dives and her performance earned her 3rd place. While Chaloux's performance was not her best this season, she continues to impress judges with her attention to detail. The judges, following her competition, commented to coaches on Chaloux's overall professional and technical performances. It can't be denied that Chaloux is amazing to watch and the Cambridge team looks forward to seeing her perform at state and make it through all of the cuts.
Haley Copeland and Renee Wang also competed in Saturday. Copeland is really starting to come into her own and develop her own style. Copeland took 9th place in the competition and scored 147.7 points, which is her best score yet. We are really looking forward to seeing Copeland develop in the next few seasons and we know that she will be a presence at the state meets in the years to come. Wang is another diver that will become more and more impactful as she gets more experience. It takes a lot of guts to try a completely new sport and especially one that is so incredibly technically challenging.
The divers will compete again on Thursday, January 7th at Fulton County Championships at the West Gwinnett Aquatic Center in Norcross at 2:00 PM.
Go Bears!
