Four junior national champions crowned on Day 1 of 2022 USA Diving Junior National Championships
by USA Diving
Four junior national champions were crowned Monday as the 2022 USA Diving Junior National Championships kicked off at COM Aquatics in Midland, Texas.
Moss Farms Diving won a pair of 11-and-under platform titles, as ElliReese Niday claimed the girls’ title and Beck Gregory took first in the boys’ contest. Jack Ma of GC Diving won the 12-13 boys’ 1-meter title, and Mallory Worobel of the Woodlands Diving Academy won the 12-13 girls’ 3-meter title.
Niday won her second junior national championship after winning the 11-and-under girls’ platform title for the second year in a row. The 10-year-old scored 224.70 points to claim the 2022 title in dominating fashion. Hannah McLaughlin of the Woodlands Diving Academy scored 170.60 points for silver, edging out Fort Lauderdale Dive Team’s Ariel Hall, who finished with 168.00 points for bronze.
Worobel also won her second junior national title, claiming the 12-13 3-meter title a year after winning the 11-and-under title in the same event. This time, Worobel scored 344.45 points to win the title by just .35 points over Shannon Waldron, her Woodlands Diving Academy teammate. Sophia Borowski of GC Diving finished third with 328.40 points.
Gregory won his first junior national title with 184.00 points in the boys’ platform contest. Nathan Piotrowski of Orlando Dive Academy scored 173.15 for silver. Moss Farms ended up with two divers in the top three in the 11-and-under boys’ platform final as Selah Huante scored 165.30 for bronze.
Ma scored 323.90 points in the 12-13 boys’ 1-meter event to win his first junior national title. Ripfest’s Leyton Dean took silver with 315.00 points, and Mikolas Schwickert of Clavadistas del Sol finished third at 311.50.
In all, 24 junior national titles will be awarded throughout the nine-day competition. Tuesday’s competition features the 11-and-under boys on 1-meter, the 11-and-under girls on 3-meter, the 12-13 boys on 3-meter and the 12-13 girls on platform.