WEBSTER – Having dominated the Section III diving ranks for the last two seasons, Cicero-North Syracuse senior Kaitlyn Carroll had one more impressive performance to put together.
During Friday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at Webster Aquatic Center near Rochester, Carroll worked her way up the standings and eventually finished 12th overall.
In all, 39 divers took part in the competition, and in the early rounds Carroll found herself in 13th place through five dives, only to struggle in the middle stages and nearly miss the top-20 cut for the finals.
Through eight dives, Carroll had 322.70 points, ultimately putting her in 19th place, less than two points above the cut line but then advancing as Jamesville-DeWitt’s Kayla McQuaid finished 25th.
It was in those last four dives that Carroll really flourished, earning 144.65 points, one of the best totals, which upped her final score to 467.35 points.
Less than eight points separated Carroll from a top-10 finish (Owego’s Kaelyn Katchuk had 474.60) as Rachel Yang, from Jericho on Long Island, won the NYSPHSAA and Federation titles with a meet-record 571.15 points, well clear of the 537.55 from Fairport’s Sophie Meuwissen.
