West York's Sarver wins third straight gold
West York's Erica Sarver admitted she felt pressure entering Wednesday's District 3 Class 2A diving championships.
Not only was the Bulldogs senior trying to defend her titles from the previous two seasons, but she also knew the points she accumulated would help West York in its quest for a team district swimming championship.
Of course, when the pressure is on Sarver she excels, and she did it again. She once again had a terrific 11-dive dive program, scoring 428.05 points to win her third straight district championship.
"I felt a little pressure, but I was pretty much calm through everything," she said. "I knew that my team relies on me to get points, and I didn't want to let them down. So I stayed relaxed."
Sarver will enter the PIAA championships in three weeks as one of the favorites. She earned a silver medal at the state championships last year.
The senior had to battle former training partners Big Spring's Shannon McCabe and Trinity's Erica Kenski throughout the competition. McCabe scored 389.80 and Kenski 357.95.
While McCabe jumped in front of her after three dives, Sarver scored 48.4 on her fourth effort to regain the lead. She never relinquished it.
"After I had my down dive, I try to just kick it into gear and do the best I can," Sarver said. "That's when I get the most motivation, when I do a bad dive."
Big Spring's Dillon Novak took home the boys' top honor, scoring 482.40 to win.
Only a freshman, Dover's Jud Pequignot exceeded his own expectations to place fourth with 291.60 points in his first district meet.
Although he missed out on qualifying for states, Pequignot was quite happy with his performance.
"I think I did a lot better than I thought because I worked really hard the weeks (after the YAIAA championships)," he said. "I came a long way for sure. Some of my dives were a little sloppy, so I needed to get them a little tighter.
"I am really proud about that. I feel like I did really well the last half of the meet."