Colquitt divers sweep state championships

Published 10:16 pm Thursday, February 8, 2007

MOULTRIE — Colquitt County swept the Class AAAAA state diving championships in style on Thursday at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta, with Ryan Helms and Kelsey Goodman setting state records in the process.

For Helms, the state championship is his third in a row, setting up the opportunity to become just the fifth four-time winner next year.

And he not only broke the previous state record of 557.20 held by Wesleyan’s Webb Worthington, he shattered it, scoring a 615.00.

Goodman, who is just a freshman, scored a 534.35 to break the previous record of 531.50 set by Harrison High’s Sarah Ohr in 2005.

Colquitt County took the top four places in the girls contest.

Hannah Moore, who won the state championship as a freshman in 2004, was the runner-up, finishing with a 519.60.

The University of Georgia signee finishes her high school career with four top-three finishes at state.

As a sophomore, she was second to Ohr and was third last year behind winner Lexi Bryant of Duluth High and her second-place teammate Ali Lepech.

Anna Aguero was third on Thursday with a 481.15. The junior Lady Packer was third in the state meet as a freshman and was fourth last year.

Lepech, a sophomore, was fourth on Thursday with a 463.80.

Helms has been progressively dominant at the state high school meet.

As a freshman, he scored a 472.60. And he won last year as a sophomore with a 518.70.

His victory on Thursday continued an outstanding run in high school meets this year.

On Jan. 26, he won the 37th Metro Atlanta Swimming and Diving Championships, also held at the Westminster Schools, with a pool record 611.60, a mark he surpassed on Thursday.

And on Jan. 27, Helms scored a 610.40 at the Clarke-Oconee Invitational in Athens.

Helms is now three-quarters of the way to four straight championships. The other four-time winners are Moultrie High’s David Howard (1976-1979), Colquitt County’s Brad Baell (1985-1988), Colquitt County’s Adam Terrell (1990-1993) and Worthington, who won the Class AAAA championships 2002-2005.

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