STRONG PERFORMANCE: San Clemente's Kelsey Heiken placed third at the CIF-SS diving meet Tuesday at Belmont Plaza. DAN ALBANO, OCVARSITY.COM |
San Clemente's Heiken finishes third in diving
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The junior found way to stay focused while battling a cold.
LONG BEACH Kelsey Heiken just wanted to avoid any major blunders at the CIF-SS Masters diving meet Tuesday.
The San Clemente junior was battling a cold and wanted to “get through” the competition at Belmont Plaza.
But Heiken did much better than that. The former CIF-SS Division I champion gave a consistent effort to place a strong third, highlighting the efforts of county divers.
Long Beach Millikan's Paulina Guzman defended her crown and home water by winning the girls meet with a score of 317.70. Guzman dives club for Long Beach-based McCormick Divers.
La Canada junior John Geyer used a strong final three dives to claim his first Masters title with a meet-record 362.80. Geyer scored four 9s on his final dive.
Heiken scored mostly 6s and 7s en route to a score of 297.85 points, which placed her just outside behind runner-up Felicitas Lenz of Pasadena Poly (305.00).
“It was pretty exciting — I had a good meet,” Heiken said. “My motivation was to get on my head and not do anything too bad.”
Heiken's best dive was arguably her reverse 2 1/2 somersault tuck on the 3-meter springboard. The dive carried a lofty 2.8 degree of difficulty but she averaged about 6.5s.
Her consistent effort helped her improved on her fifth-place finish at Masters last season. As a freshman, she took third at Masters after her Division I title.
Mission Viejo's Kyle Kolar (483.15) was the county's highest-placing boy at fourth.
Mission Viejo's Haley McNamara and Corona del Mar's Adam Seagondollar, both of whom claimed DivisionI titles last week, finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
Contact the writer: dalbano@ocregister.com
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