Local Sports
Moss Farms divers head to Junior Nationals
MOULTRIE — Six of the seven Moss Farms divers who qualified for next week’s National Junior Diving Championships are heading to Mission Viejo, Calif., to compete against the country’s top young divers.
All qualified for Junior Nationals by finishing in the top 12 at last month’s Summer East Championships in Rockville, Md.
Ryan Helms, Kelsey Goodman, Ann Perry Blank and Elizabeth Ann Kirkland will dive on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards.
Anna Aguero, who competed this week in the Senior Nationals on tower in Stanford, Calif., will make the short trip to Mission Viejo to take part in the tower and 3-meter events.
Ali Lepech, who qualified as an alternate at the East Champion-ships, will dive in the 3-meter event.
Hannah Moore qualified for Junior Nationals, but chose not to compete. She was in Stanford for Senior Nationals and competed in the 3-meter event on Friday. She missed a new dive and finished 33rd, failing to reach the finals.
Moore finished ninth on 3-meter last year at Senior Nationals.
Helms, Goodman, Lepech and Aguero will compete in the 16-18 age group.
Blank is in the 14-15 age group. Kirkland dives 13-and-under.
Moss Farms coach Ed Goodman said his divers have practiced every day this week, but have been tapering down their workouts.
The Moss Farms divers will practice on Sunday and Monday at the Mission Viejo Aquatic Center to get used to the pool and boards. Competi-tion begins Tuesday.
Helms appears to be the Diving Tiger with the best chance for a national championship.
He finished second on 3-meter and third on 1-meter at the East Championships.
“Ryan has a great shot at winning on both boards, especially on 1-meter,” Ed Goodman said. “It will be a tough event. But Ryan is as good as any of them.”
Last year, Helms was fourth on 1-meter and seventh on platform, but did not make finals on 3-meter. After having surgery on his wrist last winter, Helms chose not to dive tower this summer.
Blank also had a strong East Championships, finishing third on the 1-meter board, despite battling an illness. She also was 10th on 3-meter.
Kelsey Goodman was sixth on 1-meter and eighth on 3-meter in Rockville.
Ed Goodman, also her father, said he would be happy with a top-5 finish by his daughter in the extremely competitive 16-18 girls events.
“She hasn’t turned 16 yet,” he said. “I’m not saying she can’t win it, but it would take miracle.”
Kirkland qualified on both springboards, finishing 10th on 1-meter and 12th on 3-meter. She just missed also qualifying on tower.
Lepech finished 13th in the 3-meter and platform events, but was able to reach Nationals as an alternate on 3-meter.
Ed Goodman said he was pleased with Aguero’s 13th place finish on platform at Senior Nationals.
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