On Saturday, November 10th, the Cambridge divers competed in the Forsyth Central Diving Invitational at Cumming Aquatic Center. Cambridge had six divers competing at the meet.
Sophomore Kate McKay finished off the day at the meet champion, scoring 347.7 points with a degree of difficulty at 11.6. McKay's performance has already qualified her for the state meet in February. This year, the score and degree of difficulty to qualify for state has increased. While before the overall score was 270, it is now 300. The degree of difficulty has also increased to a 11.5 for the girls and 12.0 for the boys. Due to these changes, the quality of divers we will see at state will certainly increase while the quantity of divers will certainly decrease. McKay does not need to worry, as she has punched her ticket to Georgia Tech already in the second week of the competitive season. Last weekend, McKay participated in the 11th Annual High School Invitational hosted by North Forsyth High School. McKay took 5th place with only her 6-dive routine. She will be exciting to watch in the coming months as she prepares for state and seek to break the school record that Maddie Chaloux posted in the 2015 - 2016 season and has gone untouched.
Senior captain Haley Copeland also had a good day with her first 11-dive routine of the season. Copeland, our first four-year dive team member in school history, has her sights set on her third state meet appearance and setting the example for our younger divers to do the same. Junior Margeaux Messier warmed up the season with her first 11-dive routine after getting to only perform six last week. Messier qualified for the state meet last year and is looking to do the same this year. Junior Noor El-Gazairly chose to perform only her 6-dive routine this weekend. El-Gazairly earned high marks consistently on her dives this weekend and wanted another chance to practice her more challenging routine in practice prior to competing in it. El-Gazairly also qualified for state last year and is looking to meet the challenge of the increased score and difficulty this season. Freshman Paige Jaeger is competing as a swimmer AND divers this season for Cambridge. After opening up last weekend with her first dive routine, Jaeger took the opportunity to get some more practice on the board this weekend. We look forward to seeing what she will be able to contribute this season and in the coming seasons on the boards and the lanes.
The only male competing this past weekend was junior Maddox Riddick. Riddick put together an incredibly challenging routine with a degree of difficulty well-above what was required for qualification. Riddick fell short of the state qualifying score this weekend, but did get the chance to complete some of his most challenging dives to prepare himself for his routines in the coming weeks.
Of the divers that were not present this past weekend, Brandon Hunt is one that we will be keeping our eyes on. Last weekend, he competed in the season opener and completed all of his dives. He will get stronger and more confident every weekend. Michaela Prevallet will also be joining the girls' side in the coming weeks and we look forward to her contributions. The divers will open up many opportunities for the Bears to get an edge on some close meets this season.