Helms earns berth on Pan Am team

Published 10:35 pm Monday, August 13, 2007

MOULTRIE — The two silver medal-winning performances at last week’s Junior National Championships by Ryan Helms has earned the Moss Farms diver a spot on the Junior Pan Am team that will compete in October in Puerto Rico.

Helms will join Harrison Jones and Drew Livingston as the three 16-18 boys representatives on the team.

Three boys and three girls in each age group will represent the United States at the meet.

Helms finished second on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboards at Junior Nationals, which was held in Mission Viejo, Calif.

Jones won the gold medal on the 1-meter board. Livingston was first in the 3-meter event.

Both Jones and Livingston are member of The Woodlands (Texas) Diving Academy.

“Ryan dove really well,” said Moss Farms Diving coach Ed Goodman. “He was happy.

“Second place is a heck of an accomplishment. Ryan more than held his own.”

Goodman said Helms dove especiallywell on 1-meter, but that Jones was just outstanding in the event.

Goodman also was pleased with the performances of Kelsey Goodman and Ali Lepech.

Kelsey was fifth on 3-meter and sixth on 1-meter in the 16-18 girls finals. Lepech reached the finals and finished 12th on 3-meter.

Both were diving in the 16-18 age group for the first time,

“And they were the only 15-year-olds to reach the finals,” Goodman said. “They both dove great.”

Anna Aguero, also diving in 16-18, turned in an eighth-place finish on tower.

“She was seventh in prelims and dropped one spot in finals, which is not uncommon,” Ed Goodman said. “She did a great job.”

The members of Moss Farms Diving’s Junior Olympics team will take at least a two-week break following the Junior National Championships, traditionally the end of the summer competitive season.

The members of the Moss Farms Gold Team and those taking lessons will compete on Saturday and Sunday in the Future Champions Invitational, which will be held at the Moose Moss Aquatics Center.

Divers from Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi and possibly Tennessee are expected to take part.

Ed Goodman said final entries have not been received and he is unsure how many divers will compete.

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