This week’s notebook highlights divers from Pennsbury, CB West and Norristown.
National Conference
Burch finishes on high note - It was a good finish for Phil Burch.
The Pennsbury senior ended his high school career at the District One Class AAA diving meet at North Penn.
“My first dive was okay, but the second and third were not as good,” he said. “Sometimes you dive well and sometimes not but I’m not disappointed.”
There were 51 competitors in Class AAA, so officials cut to 32 after three dives. Burch did not advance.
“It was a good meet,” he said. “There were a lot of good guys.”
His diving career began his freshman year of high school.
“I’d been playing football and I just grew away from it,” he said. “I never thought I’d see myself diving, but I decided to give it a try and I’m glad I did.
“This season was a lot of fun. I did some of my best dives and I have so many friends on the team. We had a huge team and that made it even more fun and we won the league, which we hadn’t done a long time. That was really great.”
He will major in construction management and has already been accepted to Drexel. He is waiting to hear from Temple.
“Right now I’m looking to Drexel,” he said. “They have a great co-op program and if I go there I could possibly dive, which I can’t do at Temple because they don’t have a program.”
His main outside interest is music. He plays lead guitar in several bands.
“It’s not serious, but I have a lot of fun doing it,” he said. “I don’t play in the school band because I don’t really have a formal music education.”
Burch took third at the conference championship meet.
Continental Conference
Friedman gets taste of districts - Dylan Friedman made an impression.
The Central Bucks West freshman competed in his first District One Class AAA diving championship at North Penn.
After the first three dives, officials cut the number of Class AAA competitors from 47 to 32. Friedman was in the group of 32 who continued to compete, but he did not make it past the preliminaries.
“I thought it was a good meet,” he said. “I gave it my best. I was never here before so this was a good experience for the future for me.
“I think I can do better and I’m looking forward to next year.”
He finished 13th in the conference championship.
“I didn’t have my best meet there but I gave it a shot,” he said. “I got to districts and that was very exciting. It was my goal to make it to the district meet.”
Like many divers, Friedman started out as a gymnast.
“One day I was at a meet and I was looking at the divers and I wanted to try it,” he said. “I thought I could do it. Now I’m going on my fourth year of diving in summer league but I’m taking it more seriously now.
“I used to play soccer, but I gave that up to concentrate on diving and I’m glad I did that.”
He would like to dive in college and although he doesn’t have a school picked out yet, he knows he would like to become a surgeon.
American Conference
Harrity is gymnast turned diver - For Norristown’s Carley Harrity the District One Class AAA girls diving 
championship meet at North Penn was a great experience, although she would have liked for it to last a little longer.
“It was my first district meet and I was little nervous,” she said. “I tripped a little bit on my first dive. The next two were fine, but I wish I could have done a little better on the first one.”
Because there were 47 competitors in the Class AAA event, officials cut the number down to 32 after three dives. Hannity did not advance.
“This was one of the biggest meets I was ever in,” she said. “There were so many people, and it was hard to wait so long between dives and you had to figure out who was ahead of you.”
Harrity started out as a gymnast and continues to do gymnastics, but she was always interested in giving diving a try. This was her first full season as a diver.
“I started out last year but then I got a concussion and I was out for the rest of the season,” she said. “I’m really enjoying it and it was a good decision to give it a try.”
She has one more season with the Eagles.
“I’m looking forward to coming back next year,” she said. “I have a bunch of new dives to learn and I’m hoping to break the school record. I’m only about 20 points away from the six-dive record and 15 from the 11-dive record so I think I have a chance.”
She would like to dive in college and is considering majoring in forensics and nursing. She has not chosen a school yet but is interested in West Chester.
In addition to diving, she is the vice president of the junior class and a member of the National Honor Society.
Harrity was sixth at the conference championship meet.
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