MOULTRIE — Just how good is the Colquitt County High girls diving team?

So good that that six of its girls have already qualified for the state swimming and diving meet that will be held February 9 at The Westminster School in Atlanta.

To qualify, girls must meet an 11.5 minimum degree of difficulty for optional dives and score 270 points in an invitational meet using an 11-dive list.

No problem for the Colquitt County girls, who are trained at the Moss Farms Diving program.

The rub is that the Georgia High School Association allows just four members from one team to participate in the state meet, which means two qualifying Colquitt County divers will remain in the stands while girls of equal or perhaps less skill take to the 1-meter springboard.

And the problem for Colquitt County will only get worse.

All of the team’s six female divers — Hannah Moore, Anna Aguero, Ali Lepech, Staci Howard, Maddie Qurnell and Erin Goodman — will be back next season and two current eighth-graders now diving on the middle school team – Kelsey Goodman and Ann Perry Blank – will join the varsity team. With eight girls team members who are likely to surpass the state qualifying mark, four Lady Packers might not be able to compete.

But that conundrum is down the road.

Colquitt County’s six-girl, four-boy diving team will continue to prepare for the 1-meter championship at the state meet by taking part in the Clarke-Oconee Invitational Swimming and Diving meet on Saturday at the Ramsey Center’s Gabrielsen Natatorium at the University of Georgia.

Competition in the meet, which features an 11-dive format, begins at 11 a.m. And although Class AAAAA divers and those in Class AAAA and below compete separately at the state meet, all divers will participate together on Saturday.

Through a special dispensation, Colquitt County will be able to enter all six of its girls in Saturday’s meet.

But when Colquitt County takes part in the Metro Atlanta Invitational on Jan. 27, again, only four of the Lady Packers will be allowed to compete.

To determine which four of the six girl divers will compete at state, the scores from the invitational meet held in Moultrie in November will be combined with those from Saturday’s meet in Athens and from those at an intrasquad competition. The top four will get a shot at a state championship.

It is likely, however, that the two who do not qualify would have been made a run at the state title.

Moore placed second in the Class AAAAA championships at state meet last year behind Sarah Ohr of Harrison High after winning the meet as a freshman. Aguero was third.

Like the six members of the girls team, the four Colquitt County boys posted state qualifying scores of 270 or better on their 11-dive list at the invitational meet in Moultrie.

Sophomore Ryan Helms will try to defend the state Class AAAAA championship he won as a freshman last year.

Owen Blank, who was third in the state last year, and Jacob Russell, who was fourth, also will return to the state championships. Nic Price also will represent Colquitt County.

All four will compete on Saturday in Athens.