Latrobe’s Miller captures 3rd straight WCCA diving championship

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, January 27, 2018 | 10:42 AM

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Latrobe senior Taylor Miller, winner of the past two Westmoreland County Coaches Association diving championships, made it a three-peat Friday night.

Miller was the favorite heading into the event, but runner-up Paige Kalik made her earn that title.

Miller scored 486.60 for her 11 dives to edge Penn-Trafford’s Kalik (469.80).

“Holding that title and now winning for my third year was very exciting,” Miller said.

Miller, who said she would have been happy for her friend Kalik had she won, was elated her younger sister, Jordyn, placed third.

Jordyn Miller finished with 390.35 points.

“I think I was more excited about that than actually winning, because I like to see her succeed, and it’s exciting,” the older Miller said.

Also earning top-six medals were Hempfield’s Amber Shuey (334.70) in fourth, Franklin Regional’s Elissa Novelli (330.05) in fifth and Franklin Regional’s Julia Perry (295.5) in sixth.

On the boys’ side, Franklin Regional’s Mason Fishell, who went head-to-head with Penn Trafford’s Logan Sherwin, placed first. Fishell finished with 509.20 points to beat Sherwin’s 481.40.

“It was just a relief. It was a big meet that I’ve been looking forward to,” Fishell said.

Fishell emerged with the first-place finish after surpassing Sherwin’s score in the 10th round with a meet-high 68.20 score.

“It was definitely a big dive,” he said. “The degree of difficulty on that was 3.1. I knew I had to nail that one.”

Fishell, who described the dive as an “inward two-and-a-half tuck position” said he wasn’t expecting for it to score that high.

Sherwin and Fishell placed second and third, respectively, in last year’s WCCA championships.

“Logan Sherwin is just a great athlete,” Fishell said. “I knew it was going to come down to me or him. I was fine with either.”

Rounding out the top six were Penn-Trafford’s Jackson Patula (332.75) in third, Latrobe’s Lauren Bisignani (320.0) in fourth, Franklin Regional’s Riley Rizzer (310.80) in fifth, and Hempfield’s Grant Drexler (278.80) in sixth.

The swimming portion of the WCCA championships begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at Derry.

Zachary D’Amico is a freelance writer.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Hempfield Area, Latrobe, Penn-Trafford