According to Aurora Greenmen sophomore Zachary Best, it had been a while since he competed in an 11-round one-meter diving competition. Best still excelled and captured the Suburban League American Conference diving title by scoring a personal best 249.60 points last Thursday at Solon High School.
“It feels good, honestly,” Best said. “It was definitely a close meet between myself and Parker D’Sidocky from Kent Roosevelt. It felt good to win one.”
With Best’s teammate, senior Colten McCrae, missing the meet because of an illness, only four male divers competed in the SLAC meet. Best acknowledged that meant a smaller margin for error but enjoyed competing in a smaller pool of competitors.
Best said he and the Rough Riders’ junior engaged in tight battle for first place but Best gained the upper hand when D’Sidocky failed to execute a reverse dive in the eighth round by almost hitting the board on his descent.
“If you are coming within six inches of the board then that becomes a safety hazard for yourself and it is actually customary to dock points if you get too close to the board,” Best noted.
Best seized a firm grip on first place in the final three rounds to capture his first SLAC diving title and set a new personal record. Before Best even attempted his final dive, he had already eclipsed his previous record.
He added that his inward somersault and tuck dive with a degree of difficulty of 1.6 in the second round helped establish momentum.
“I had a lot of good dives but I’d have to say my inward flip had a very clean entry,” Best said. “I got a lot of height on it and the rotation was good and I soared very well on it so that was what I was very proud of.”
Best said that one of the biggest changes he made to his diving sheet was breaking up the order of his first few dives. His first two dives stayed the same, but his usual third dive, an inward 1½ somersault and tuck dive with a degree of difficulty of 2.20, became his final dive. He executed it in the 11th round, propelling him to his first conference diving title.
“I just think that it helped me to focus better because there were times in between where I was practicing my dives and visualizing them and working them out beforehand,” Best said. “I usually do not do that stuff before hand so I think it helped me stay more focused.”
In addition to Best winning the conference crown, sophomore Aubrey Kennedy also dazzled, taking second place in the SLAC girls’ diving meet, scoring a personal record 314.95 points.
“It means a lot to me especially because I have a really good coaching staff and I have teammates that I am really thankful for and they make the whole experience better and mean a lot more to me,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy stayed at the top of the scoreboard throughout most of the meet, alternating between second and third place in the first four rounds. She dropped to fourth place in the fifth and six rounds but her backwards 1½ somersault and tuck dive with a degree of difficulty of 2.0 in the seventh round netted 26.00 points, moving her into the second place.
“There were a few higher dives and a few more challenging ones I was nervous for but I think it went pretty well,” Kennedy noted.
She stayed in second place in the final rounds to finish as the conference runner-up for the second straight year, trailing the reigning champion Kent Roosevelt junior Ella Houk by 46.70 points.
“She is a teammate of mine, she dives club with me so we have a really good bond and I like being alongside of her at first and second because I like watching her grow as I am growing with her too,” Kennedy noted. “She had a nice personal record too so I am really proud of her.”
Kennedy said her second dive was one of her most challenging dives, a forward double somersault and tuck dive with a degree of difficulty of 2.2 but she still scored 35.20 points.
“Mentally it is a little bit tougher with the dive itself but my teammates encouraged me when I went up there to do that dive and reminded me that it was okay no matter how well I performed,” Kennedy added.
In addition to Kennedy’s strong performance, sophomore Grace Nessel came in seventh place by scoring 218.20 points followed by freshman Mikaela Kilroy who took eighth place with 167.25 points.
Following a home dual meet against SLAC rival Kent Roosevelt celebrating senior night, the Aurora divers will compete at the Northeast Classic at Canton McKinley’s C.T. Branin Natatorium on Saturday beginning at 7 a.m.
