MOULTRIE — Colquitt County divers Ryan Helms and Kelsey Goodman will try to defend their state Class AAAAA championships and Helms will go for a fourth-straight title at the Georgia High School Association’s Swimming and Diving Championships today at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta.

Colquitt County will have the maximum of four Lady Packers diving in the girls competition.

Three members of the boys team will compete, including Helms, the University of Tennessee signee who has won the state championship the last three years. Last spring, he set a state record with a score of 615.0.

“I expect Ryan to dive well,” Colquitt County coach Ed Goodman said.

If he can win again, Helms will join Packers David Howard (1976-1979), Brad Baell (1985-1988) and Adam Terrrell (1990-1993) and Wesleyan’s Webb Worthington as the only four-time state boys champions.

Helms has won both of the preliminary high school meets, taking the Clarke-Oconee Invitational with a 582.25.

On Jan. 25, he won the Metro Atlanta championship, scoring a 631.80, a Westminster Schools pool record. He will chase that record as well today.

Helms could be challenged this year by teammate Owen Blank, who has signed with the University of Georgia. Blank has finished in the top four the last three years.

Also diving for Colquitt County today will be Jacob Russell.

A Moultrie/Colquitt County High diver has won 26 of the last 32 boys state championships.

Colquitt County has a chance to sweep the boys and girls championships for the second straight year.

Kelsey Goodman, who won the state title as a freshman with a state record 534.35, will try to repeat.

Goodman finished first in the girls event in both the Clarke-Oconee and Metro Atlanta meets this year.

Her biggest competition could come from teammate Anna Aguero.

An Auburn signee, Aguero finished third as a freshman, fourth as a sophomore and third again last spring.

She finished second, just four points behind Goodman, at the Metro Atlanta meet. She also was second at the Clarke-Oconee Invitational.

“Anna had a great Metro Atlanta meet,” Ed Goodman said. “Her DD (degree of difficulty) is a little less than Kelsey’s. But her voluntaries are maybe as good or better than Kelsey’s.

“It’s going to be a real dogfight between those two. I couldn’t pick it.”

Also diving for Colquitt County will be Ann Perry Blank and Erin Goodman. Ann Perry was fourth at the Clarke-Oconee and, having hit a qualifying score, did not dive at the Metro Atlanta.

Erin Goodman is coming off perhaps her best performance when she finished seventh at the Metro Atlanta.

Only four divers from a school are permitted to dive in the state meet.

Ali Lepech, who was fourth in the state meet last year as a sophomore, will not compete.

“I’m sure she’ll recover and do real well in the Junior Olympic season,” Ed Goodman said.

With a Lady Packer having won 12 of the last 20 girls championships, it appears that once again Colqutt County is the team to beat.

“I think we are going to do well on both sides,” Ed Goodman said. “We should have a state champion in boys and girls.”