Five divers under the age of 13 represented Santa Clara Diving at the Junior West National Championships last weekend. Three of the five divers worked their way up through the lessons program and onto the travel team, qualifying for their first national competition in their very first try. All of the divers qualified for the meet by placing in the top six in their age group at the Spring Regional Championships.
Remi Edvalson was the youngest member of the squad. She competed in her first national competition of her diving career. Remi finished the 3-meter springboard competition in 16th place for the 11 and under girls’ event. This was the highest place finish for Santa Clara diving.
Cole Vertin and Sunny Prasad were the only boys on the team competing in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard competition in the 12-13 boys’ events. Both Sunny and Cole competed in their first national championship, adding to the young team. Cole finished the competition in 27th place on 3-meter and 28th place on 1-meter. Sunny just narrowly outshined his teammate by placing in 25th place on 3-meter and 24th place on 1-meter.
Katie Truong and Kathleen Navas, the veterans of the group, competed in the 12-13 girls’ events. Kathleen, former Age-Group National Champion, competed in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events. She finished in 22nd place on 1-meter and made the top 20 with her 17th place finish in the 3-meter event. Katie’s only event was on the 1-meter springboard. She also finished in the 
top 20 with her 19th place finish for Santa Clara Diving.
All five divers show great promise for the future of Santa Clara Diving. Three of the divers qualified and competed in the their national competition in just their very first year on the travel team. A fourth diver was competing in a new and higher age group for the first time. This summer is going to be very exciting for our entire travel team, especially our younger divers on their way.
