NY STATE GIRLS DIVING: OWEGO’S KATCHUK RETURNS TO STATE COMPETITION (2022-11-18)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
ROCHESTER — Owego’s Kaelyn Katchuk made it through all the cuts at the 2021 NYSPHSAA Girls Diving Championships, finishing 17th in the 1-meter competition.

The sophomore, who fell less than 11 points shy of a medal, comes into today’s state meet as the 15th seed.

She won the Section IV Class B title two weeks ago, besting a field that included 12 other divers. She scored 507.4 points to dominate the competition, setting meet and Maine-Endwell pool records in the process.

Katchuk even outscored the section’s top diver, Corning’s Brooke Terwilliger, who won the Class A championship later that day.

Last year, Katchuk posted a score of 433.6 points at states while Terwilliger landed the final medalist spot, placing 10th with 444.3 points.

For Katchuk, and her coach and father, the state meet is another opportunity to improve on her springboard skills.

“We plan championship meets out to focus on good board work and solid dive mechanics,” Roger Katchuk said. ”We can't control what other divers are going to do, so our goal is quality. If everything gets up and down with power, the rest takes care of itself.”

After winning her third consecutive Class B championship, Kaelyn Katchuk said she wants to make it through all three cuts and have a solid performance at states.

The top seed is Manhasset freshman Victoria Wang, the only diver in the field of 39 competitors to score over 600 points (604.35) for 11 dives this season.

Terwilliger is the top seed out of Section IV, coming in at No. 6 with 536.2 points and Katchuk comes in with 507.4, just 10.45 points out of the top 10. M-E’s Madison Morris (22nd, 474.1) and Horseheads’ Emma Bachert (26th, 468.4) are the other Section IV qualifiers.

Katchuk will be the third diver in the order.

Competition begins at 2 p.m. today at the Webster Aquatic Center.

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