MOULTRIE — Despite what coach Ron Piemonte characterized as a case of the jitters, six Moss Farms divers qualified for Nationals on Thursday in the first day of the 2006 Summer East Championships being held at the Moose Moss Aquatic Center.

The top 12 finishers in each event will advance to the Junior National Diving Championships, which will be held July 26-30 in Indianapolis, Ind.

All three of Moss Farms entries in the girls 14-15 girls 1-meter event qualified for Nationals.

Kelsey Goodman was second, Ann Perry Blank was sixth and Ali Lepech was 10th.

In the 16-18 girls 1-meter competition, Hannah Moore was ninth and Anna Aguero was 12th, taking the final spot by a half-point over Amanda Lohman of the Pitt Aquatic Club.

Staci Howard was 36th in the 40-girl field.

And Ryan Helms secured a spot a Nationals when he turned in a sixth-place finish in the 16-18 boys competition.

The 16-18 girls 1-meter and the 16-18 boys 3-meter events were stopped for more than a half-hour when the lightning detector at the recreation complex went off.

Piemonte said he didn’t think the delay affected any of the divers.

The meet’s opening day began with promise for the 15-member Moss Farms team, although Dean Benton had to be scratched from 14-15 boys 1-meter event because of an ear infection.

“It was a good start,” coach Ron Piemonte said. “With the first event of the meet, there’s always a little intimidation and the top divers were missing here and there. So it was nice that even though we weren’t as sharp as we can be, that we made it.

“And all three of them were in 13-and-under last year.”

Goodman, daughter of Moss Farms coach Ed Goodman, represented Islamorada (Fla.) Diving last year at East Nationals and finished first on both springboards to qualify for Nationals in 13-and-under.

She said she missed two dives but still scored 287.30 to finish 14 points back of gold medal winner Samantha Pickens of the Pitt Aquatic Club. Thea Vock of Legacy Diving was third with a 282.60.

“I wanted to get in the top three,” Goodman said. “But really, I just wanted to qualify.

“I’m happy with what I did.”

Goodman will be back in action at 3 p.m. Saturday when she competes in the 3-meter event.

“I’ve got a higher DD (degree of difficulty) on 3-meter,” she said. “I expect to do well.”

She is not as certain about her performance in the platform event, which will be held at 9 a.m. Sunday.

“I just learned tower,” she said. “I’ll just be happy to qualify.”

Piemonte said Lepech “did not have a good event,” despite finishing 10th to advance to Nationals. Lepech also will dive in the 3-meter and platform events.

Nick McCrory of the North Carolina Aquatic club won the 14-15 boys 3-meter event by 78 points over Team Orlando’s Tom Neubacher.

Connor Kuremsky of Pitt Aquatic Club with third with a 358.45.

In the 13-and-under boys platform event, Jersey Rebel Diving’s Ross Edfort finished first with a 302.75. Charlie Retter of Liberty Diving took the silver medal with a 277.95.

The 16-18 boys 3-meter and 16-18 girls 1-meter were held simultaneously, with each event sporting a 40-diver field.

Matthew Cooper of the Montgomery Dive Club took the gold medal with a 461.35. Linus Altman-Kurosaki of Morningside Divers was second with a 459.20.

Sean Moore of the Mile High Dive Club was a close third with a 458.10.

Helms scored a 443.00 to finish sixth.

Moss Farms teammate Owen Blank was 20th with a 366.75.

Moore’s ninth-place score was a 307.20, which left her just .05 behind the 307.25 put up by Wings Diving’s Casey Matthews and the 307.45 scored by Starz Diving Club’s Audra Egenolf.

“I didn’t dive real well,” said Moore, who has been ill for much of the last week. “I missed one dive real bad. But I don’t really like 1-meter. Maybe 3-meter will be better.”

Abby Johnston of U.S. Elite Diving took first place in the girls 16-18 1-meter with a 354.50. Team Olympia’s Bianca Alvarez was second with a 347.80. Liberty Diving’s Danica Roskos was third with a 339.80.

Piemonte said Helms, Blank, Aguero, Moore and Howard “dove absolutley fantastic in the warmups. They just couldn’t do it in the meet.

“A lot of it was first-event jitters. And Anna, Staci, Owen and Ryan were diving for the first time in 16-18 (at East Nationals). That’s a big step up. And the 16-18 boys and the 16-18 girls are strong groups.”

But, all in all, “I was happy with today,” Piemonte said. “We got our first-day jitters out of the way. Now maybe they’ll compete a little better.

“Still, it’s nice to know we were not close to our potential and still qualified.”