MOULTRIE – Two Moss Farms divers won Georgia High School Association state championships this week, including Carson Tyler who obliterated the state’s previous record score.

Tyler, a senior representing Colquitt County High School, won the Class 7A championship with a score of 878.95, far surpassing the previous record of 762.35 set by Peter Smithson of Collins Hill in 2019.

Nolan Lewis, Tyler’s Moss Farms teammate, represented Thomasville and won the Class 1A-3A title with a 732.40.

Colquitt County took three of the top four finishes in the Class 7A championship with freshman Bo Bridges placing second behind Tyler with a 667.20 and senior Timothy Fagan coming in fourth.

Moss Farms divers also had two of the top finishers in the girls 7A meet.

Emma Bryan, a sophomore representing Tift County High School, was fourth with a score of 526.15, but was just 23.50 points behind state champion Michelle Cummo of West Forsyth.

Colquitt County High freshman Shannon Icard was fifth with a 501.40.

Moss Farms divers Abi White and Mauri Leroux, both seniors representing Thomasville, placed fourth and fifth respectively in the Class 1A-3A girls competition, which was won by Pace Academy’s Elizabeth Kaye.

Anne Caroline Taylor, a sophomore from Thomasville, placed 10th.

Also representing Colquitt County High in Class 7A girls meet were sophomores Skyler Hopper and Mackenzie Smith, making it 11 Moss Farms competing in the state high school championships.

The state title was the second in a row for Tyler, who will continue his diving career at Indiana University. It was a much more impressive performance than even last year’s 710.95 effort.

“It was pretty special,” Moss Farms Diving coach John Fox said of Tyler’s work at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. “His execution of his difficult dives was excellent, consistently excellent.

“It was fun to watch. He was really dialed in. He was highly motivated. When he sets his mind on something, it’s pretty impressive.”

Fox sounded as if he wouldn’t be surprised if Bridges followed in Tyler’s footsteps and won some state titles of his own.

“Bo and Carson have been diving together since they were real young,” Fox said. “Bo is young, but he is very gifted, about as gifted as Carson.

“Divers have to learn to be their best when their best is needed and I think Bo did his best when it was needed. This wasn’t an easy second-place finish.”

Fagan had one subpar dive in the prelims, perhaps costing him the third-place finish that went to Harrison High senior Alex Scott.

“But he composed himself,” Fox said, noting that Fagan performed the rest of his two lists well.

Fagan is expected to dive at the University of Georgia next season. He is just waiting on his acceptance letter, Fox said.

Bryan was second in the Class 7A girls competition last year, but Fox said challenges presented by the coronavirus hampered her training.

“I think in the next year or two, she will win a title,” he said.

Fox also was pleased with Icard’s performance.

“She strung together 12 good dives,” he said.

Fox was especially impressed with the state championship earned by Lewis, which is the first for a Thomasville diver.

“He dove out of his mind,” Fox said. “He was consistently poised and was definitely the highest jumping kid in the pool that day.

“He had a lot of pent-up energy and he put it all out there. He dove like a mature athlete.”

Lewis has signed to dive for coach Chris Colwill at the University of Georgia next season.

White finished just 1.35 points out of third place in the 1A-3A competition.

“She did a lot of good things and showed a lot of poise,” Fox said of White, who has signed to dive at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.

Leroux was right behind her longtime Moss Farms teammate.

“She had 12 good dives,” Fox said of Leroux, who has signed a National Letter of Intent to dive at the University of Delaware.

Although Taylor finished 10th, Fox continues to marvel at her ability to perform at a high level while also playing softball and soccer in Thomasville.

“She’s a multisport athlete,” he said. “That’s pretty impressive.”