SV’s Clerkley wins WPIAL diving title
Isaiah Clerkley wasn't battling nerves Saturday morning. He felt no apprehension and wasn't second-guessing himself as he took the board for the WPIAL Diving Championship at North Allegheny High School.
Physically and mentally prepared, he turned in a truly superb performance.
Clerkley won the Class 3A boys title with a score of 559.35. He was ranked No.1 in the district entering the event.
"That didn't add any pressure for me," said Clerkley. "I felt really good and it was great resurfacing after each dive and hearing the crowd cheer for me."
Last year, Clerkley placed runner-up here to North Allegheny's Will Schenk by just 10.4 points.
"I was upset with that, coming so close and not winning," he said. "It was something I set out to do and I accomplished it today."
Clerkley steered clear of disappointment this time. It had no chance against his clean and consistent effort. Five of his 12 dives scored over 50 points. Two of them came with his front 2½ somersault, two twist and front 2½ somersault, pike position entries.
"He hit every single one of his dives," said SV coach Nancy Laslavic. "He was hitting them all week in practice, too."
Clerkley became the first male from Seneca Valley to win a WPIAL diving title since Chris Rebholz in 2000. His achievement Saturday was part of a banner day for the program. Seniors Jeremiah Laslavic (508.30) and Sam Hersick (454.70) placed second and third, respectively. Miles Miller, who picked up the sport just six months ago, earned a medal by placing eighth with a score of 365.60. The WPIAL's top four advance to the state meet.
"I knew we could get 1-2-3," Clerkley said. "We all worked so hard and I'm happy for the team."
"Three divers to states, I'm ecstatic," Nancy Laslavic exclaimed.
Medaling in the Class 3A girls meet were Mars' Emily Mueller (5th, 421.40), Seneca Valley's Cooper Burcham (7th, 387.65) and Chloe Petersen (8th, 380.60).
Class 2A — It wasn't until she won her third district title her junior year that Maggie Foley considered the possibility of being a four-time champion.
"I just took each meet as it came, was always focused on what I needed to do to win the next competition," she said.
That attention to detail undoubtedly had something to do with the North Catholic senior winning Friday with a total of 491.40 points, making her just the fifth girl in WPIAL history to win four diving championships.
The event was split into two parts, both consisting of six dives. After the first set, the field was cut from 27 down to the top 16. Foley entered the second round in first place after scoring 52.8 points on a difficult front dive with 2½ somersaults and a tuck position.
"I treated it as two separate meets," Foley said. "Things I had been working on in practice showed up, so I was happy with that."
Foley's 12th dive was the final one of the meet. Needing 28 points to pass Quaker Valley's Ruby Olliffe for the title, she scored 42. Olliffe finished with 477.65 points and was runner-up for the second straight year.
"Winning four straight feels unbelievable," said Foley. "It's neat that Christina Shi (North Allegheny senior) won her fourth straight (3A) title Saturday. I started off diving with her and we've always kept in touch. She's a good friend."
