This week's notebook features divers from CR South, Pennridge and Wissahickon. To view photos of the District One Diving Championships, please visit the Photo Gallery.
National Conference
Carlin looks to next year - It wasn’t the meet Ryan Carlin envisioned.
The Council Rock South had high hopes at this year’s District One Class AAA diving meet but struggled on his second dive of the meet.
It was a hole he couldn’t quite dig himself out of, ending up 22nd at the competition, held at Upper Dublin. He scored 145.30 points over five dives.
“I’m disappointed, sure, but there’s always next year,” he said. “I’m more determined than ever now. I’ve set more goals for myself.”
The dive in question was an inward double. Carlin’s foot hit the board, resulting in mandatory deductions.
“It was still fun to try to fight back,” he said. “I’m glad I didn’t finish last so I put up a good fight. I just have to use this experience to make myself better.”
The top 10 finishers at the meet qualified for the PIAA championships, slated for March 13-16 at Bucknell. This number is up from last year, when seven divers in Class AAA moved on to states.
Last year Carlin was 20th at the district meet but 13 of the divers who finished ahead of him were seniors so the combination of a large graduating class and more qualifying berths was tantalizing.
“It’s frustrating because I thought I had a shot at going to states,” he said. “But you can’t look back and change anything so I’ll work hard over the summer and try to improve as much as I can and take another shot next year.
“I’m already looking forward to it. Next year, I’m going to be very tenacious.”
When he isn’t at the pool, Carlin can be found helping out at his family’s business, Crusader Paintballs in Fairless Hills, where he is a referee.
“It’s a lot of fun but it does take up a lot of time,” he said.
Continental Conference
Laderer moving up - Nikki Laderer was pretty excited to be at the District One Class AAA girls diving championships.
The Pennridge junior had made it to the competition as a freshman but failed to make the cut last year.
“Last year I learned a lot,” she said. “I didn’t make districts and that was kind of upsetting. I’d made it as a freshman so I just thought I’d do it again.
“I didn’t take it as seriously as I should have so this year I buckled down more.”
Laderer made it to the semifinals at this year’s meet, finishing 20th and scoring 228.90 points over eight dives.
“I didn’t make it past the preliminaries my freshman year so I’m really happy that I made the first cut this time,” she said. “It’s the farthest I’ve gotten.
“I’m excited for next year and seeing what I can do. I’m looking into doing some club teams because I want to do better.”
She is interested in diving in college and is considering colleges in the South because her parents are planning to move to Florida after her graduation.
In addition to diving, she is also a member of the Pennridge volleyball team.
“Diving is my favorite, though,” she said. “Volleyball is a side thing, although I do like it a lot.”
Before she became a diver, Laderer spent 11 years as a gymnast.
“It was a year-round thing,” she said. “It was a huge commitment and I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that.”
She finished seventh at the Continental Conference championships.
American Conference
Karo baack on the board - Jeff Karo is a first-year diver.
But the Wissahickon sophomore performed like a veteran.
He made it past the first cut of the District One Class AAA competition and finished in 17th place, one spot shy of making it to the finals.
Not bad for his first try at the district level.
“It was pretty fun,” he said. “I met a lot of nice people and it was cool to see some really good divers like Ian (Forlini of William Tennent, the three-time defending champion).
“It’s good for me to see someone my age being that good. It shows me that if I work hard enough, I could not necessarily become as good as that, but at least get better.”
He had previous experience at diving but hadn’t done the sport in several years, focusing on gymnastics for the past four years.
“Coming back to diving was a good choice for me,” he said. “I trained with younger divers though, so I had no sense of where I fit in with my own age group. Was I good? Was I bad? I had no idea. “
In addition to diving, he also plays tennis for Wissahickon.
“They’re completely different sports but I like them both,” he said.
“I made the first cut this year and that was exciting because I wasn’t sure if I was going to do that. In this sport if you make a mistake it affects everything. In tennis, if you make a mistake you can get that point back, but in this sport, you can really dig a hole for yourself.”
- Log in to post comments
