By Samantha Butterfield
Staff Writer
Over the past weekend, on Saturday, March 26th the El Diamante Dive Team went over to Gold West to compete in 11 dives in hopes to qualify for the Valley Championships. Divers that went are Jaden Castillo, Samantha Butterfield, Kenzie Ruiz, Madisyn Ruiz, and Morgan Looper.
Jaden Castillo, knocked the competition out of the park as a freshman. He is only a freshman and scored second out of 13 boys! A few of the dives he competed in include: inward 1 ½, front double, and reverse dive. His final score was over 380 and he qualified for Valley.
I, Samantha Butterfield, senior, had one of my best days diving and even got a personal record. Some of my favorite dives I competed were a back somersault straight, reverse somersault, and front 1 ½. I ended up getting 2nd place with a score of 316.5 and qualified for Valley as well.
Kenzie Ruiz, a sophomore, also had a great day of diving. She did so well competing against many different girls at all types of levels. Some of her best dives of the day include front somersault 1 twist, inward dive, and back somersault ½ twist. She got 4th place out of 14 girls, with a score of 284! Kenzie’s sister is Madisyn Ruiz, a senior, who also had a great day of diving. Some of her best dives from the day were her front 1 ½, inward somersault, and back somersault.
Morgan Looper, a freshman, came out a few weeks after diving had started. She had no problem catching up, and was able to learn 11 dives in just a few months! This was her first 11 dive meet and she did amazing! She got 7th place out of 14 girls. She ended up scoring a 272.95 and got an automatic score that qualifies her for Valley.
Overall it was a great meet, and even some of our other teammates, Danielle Giannandrea and Chandler Prine came to support us! It was a long day, but it was filled with lots of sunscreens, laughs, and great diving. Also special thanks to our coaches Diedra, and Morgan Kelly for making this possible. Congrats El Diamante Dive on all your hard work.