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WILKES-BARRE — All it took for Sophia Ginocchetti to clear out her nerves was one dive.
The rest was history.
The Wyoming Valley West junior broke both district and regional diving records Saturday at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center. Ginocchetti snapped her own district mark while claiming a regional record that she nearly closed in on last year.
“I felt confidence after I got the first dive out of the way,” Ginochetti said. “I was kind of iffy in warmups. I had confidence going into the whole meet that each dive would take care of itself from there.”
Ginocchetti’s record highlighted a day of back-to-back district championships for a pair of Wyoming Valley Conference girls divers.
Both Ginocchetti and Dallas senior Jaelyn Shaver became the first divers to claim consecutive girls diving district gold medals since Dallas’ Sarah Zerfoss accomplished the feat in 2010-12. Ginocchetti finished with a 482.75 score that smashed the previous district and regional highmarks for the District 2-4 Class 3A regional championship.
Last year, she registered a 452.1 score that broke her coach Karina Zabresky’s previous district record, falling just 4.3 points shy of the regional record. For her encore performance, Ginocchetti broke that mark by 26.35 points.
“I just focus on doing each dive and taking each dive at a time and letting the scores take care of themselves,” Ginocchetti said. “Hopefully, next year, I can get 500.”
She nailed a “nerve-wracking” Forward 2½ Somersault with a 2.4 degree of difficulty that she learned just weeks ago for her seventh dive. With a 7 and a pair of 6s, the Spartan diver tallied her highest score of the afternoon. Ginocchetti neared the record on her penultimate dive, a Forward 2 Somersault pike with a 2.3 degree of difficulty, with 8s from three of the five judges.
“During the competition, you have to have that mentality where once you get through one dive, you forget about that and move onto the next,” Ginocchetti said. “It goes so fast, by the time you’re already on your 11th dive, you’re finished with the meet.”
Shaver broke the 400-plateau for the first time with a winning score of 404.2 for the District 2 Class 2A title.
“I’m thrilled I broke 400 because last year I had a 371,” Shaver said. “I improved 33 points from my first championship. Even though I feel I could have done better, I’m happy with my performance. It’s just as good as it felt last year.”
Unlike last year, however, Shaver felt the weight of the target on her back from the field of six divers. She defeated West Scranton’s Victoria Watkins by 46.45 points to claim the gold medal.
“I was not as nervous last year because I accepted that it could go either way,” Shaver noted. “I was competing against another really good diver. I was more calm. This year, knowing that I had a lot of pressure on me and that I had a lot of people coming after me, it made me really nervous.”
Shaver’s nerves did not recede until her 10th dive. The Mountaineer dive mastered a Back Double Pike on her penultimate trip off the 1-meter springboard, marking her highest degree of difficulty dive and largest score of the morning.
Shaver and Ginocchetti both qualify for the PIAA Diving Championships on March 13-16 at Bucknell University and will be looking to improve upon last year’s 12th and 16th place performances, respectively.
“I am really excited to dive,” Shaver said. “I can definitely improve my consistency with my dives and making sure that they are all solid. I hope I can find my way to a medal.”
Meyers’ Jose Rivera was the top boys finisher, placing second place in Class 2A with a 275.75.
District 2 Diving Championships
Class 2A Girls
1. Jaelyn Shaver (DAL) 404.2, 2. Victoria Watkins (WS) 357.75, 3. Mia Reinert (DAL) 351.1; 4. Mary Strunk (HR) 311.15; 5. Kayla Taddei (WA) 299.1; 6. Dani McGrane (COU) 286.5
Class 2A Boys
1. Carter Smith (AH) 439.7; 2. Jose Rivera (MEY) 275.75; 3. Hunter Snay (TUN) 264.85
Class 3A Girls
1. Sophia Ginocchetti (WVW) 482.75; 2. Madison Marchese (WIL) 356.55; 3. Taliyah Booker (DV) 340.85; 4. Libby Williams (PA) 338.9; 5. Alyssa Harlin (DV) 322.25; 6. Camille Marquardt (AH) 289.1; 7. Lila Vogelsong (WIL) 268.25
Class 3A Boys
1. Tre Taylor (WIL) 451.6; 2. Jack Beattie (WIL) 417.35; 3. Cody Shope (WIL) 343.1; 4. Jake Wenzel (DV) 292.35; 5. Connor Rosencrans (WVW) 241; 6. Trevor Ultsh (WVW) 235.95; 7. Jack Lutfy (DV) 234.25