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CIF-Division II Diving Report

It's year of the underclassmen as Hilltop's Kovar, La Jolla's Carrier claim CIF dive titles

SAN DIEGO, May 14, 2002 -- They stood together at the conclusion of Tuesday's San Diego Section Division II diving championships at Mesa College, a sophomore and a freshman, as champions of the 16-member field.

But underclassmen Kyle Kovar, a sophomore at Hilltop High School in Chula Vista, and La Jolla High freshman Natalie Carrier, were likely the most unassuming champions.

"It looks better than my fourth-place medal last year," Kovar said when holding up his championship medal.

Both divers obviously have bright futures with which to look forward.

"I wasn't in a good mood today. I just decided to go in and try my best and see how I could do," said Carrier, who previously won this year's City Conference girls dive title.

Carrier finished ahead of Coronado's Krysta Chaledekas, the runner-up at this year's City finals, and third-place finisher Colleen McDonald of University of San Diego High School, third at this year's City finals. Carrier totaled 353.20 points (well below her entry mark of 396.20) in besting Chaledekas (347.70) and McDonald (300.45). Chaledekas' entry mark stood at 372.55 points while McDonald's entry card sported a 328.15 mark.

Finishing fourth was Coronado's Mallory Burt (298.65) while Grossmont senior Rebecca Riley was fifth with 281.70 points, USDHS' Elise Caster was sixth with 263.05 points, USDHS' Samantha Wycoco was seventh with 237.10 points, Coronado's Chelsea Tomeny was eighth was 236.80 points, Helix's Lindsay Schmidt was ninth with 229.80 points and USDHS' Jenna Marshall was 10th with 202.55 points.

Schmidt came into the meet as the Grossmont South League champion, sporting a 300.00 point entry mark, while Riley finished second at the Grossmont North League championships and carried a 293.15 entry mark.

Coronado's Burt (fifth) had finished behind USDHS' Caster (fourth) at the preceding City finals. Wycoco, who was impressive in her early dives at the CIF finals, was coming off a seventh-place finish at the City finals while Tomeny had finished eighth at the City meet. Marshall had managed a sixth-place finish at the City finals, though at CIF finished behind two divers she had previously out-pointed in league competition.

Carrier, who has only been diving for two years, owes her expertise on the board to gymnastics. However, after fracturing her back, her mother forbade her to continue as a gymnast. But with water less taxing on impacts, Carrier quickly found a new outlet for her creative routines.

Kovar finished 40.85 points ahead of pre-meet favorite Brian Singleton, a senior from Coronado. When Singleton failed his last dive for not completing a twist, some thought that Singleton may have handed the title to the younger (but no less talented) Hilltop diver. However, in order for Singleton to have defeated Kovar, the Coronado diver would had to have scored 41 points on that final dive. Kovar's highest point total during the meet was 37.40 points -- meaning the favored Singleton would had to have produced a phenomenal exit to grab a comeback win.

Kovar likely earned his title outright.

"I didn't think of even winning today," Kovar said. "All I wanted to do was to dive."

Kovar had learned his lesson the hard way the week before at the Metro Conference championships when selfishness to win handed him a second-place finish to Chula Vista senior Alex Soto despite two higher place-finishes than the Spartan diver in invitational competition throughout the season. Kovar used the same dive card at CIF that he employed at Metro.  

In beating Singleton (293.60 points), Kovar (334.45 points) overcame two subpar performances during his 11-dive card. "My back one-and-one-half inward didn't hurt me too much but my reverse one-and-one-half went over and it wasn't too good," he said.

The Lancer diver had opened the meet with two respectable dives while Singleton appeared to struggle early. However, it was Singleton who appeared to be getting stronger throughout the meet while Kovar faltered briefly. But the Hilltop diver scored consistently well on his remaining dives to pile up what proved to be an insurmountable lead. Kovar credited strong efforts on his inward double, forward double and reverse dive from the pike position as likely giving him the edge in claiming his breakthrough title.

"I'm just happy. It's the first CIF diving banner for Hilltop -- that's cool. I was just having a pretty good day and excited about every one of my dives," Kovar said.

Kovar's father, Dan, looked on while serving as Mar Vista's coach. Mar Vista sophomore Sean Crampton finished fifth in the field of six divers with 191.50 points. Crampton, who carried an entry mark of 263.30 points, had finished third in the Metro field the previous week. Kovar's entry mark was 339.95 points while Singleton's was a division-best 355.65 points.

"Everyone has their list. It's theirs to miss," the elder Kovar had said before the meet began.

"I was just here to dive my last meet of the year," the younger Kovar said.

Grossmont sophomore Randin Lambrecht finished third in the boys field with 282.25 points, topping his entry mark of 277.70 points. He had previously finished second in the Grossmont North League finals.

USDHS' Michael Beasley finished fourth with 200.60 points while teammate Josh Valentine was sixth with 174.45 points.

At the City finals, Singleton had finished first, Valentine second and Beasley third.

 

     

        

       

 

 

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