Valinger 8th in diving at Div. II championships

CANTON — Junior Trisha Valinger of Poland finished in eighth place at the girls Division II state diving championships on Wednesday at the C.T. Branin Natatorium.

Valinger, advancing to the state meet for the third time, finished with a score of 347.95 points.

Nikki Craft, a junior from Bay, won the event with a score of 475.40. She was followed by Chelsea Lucas (424.10) of Lima Shawnee and Kendall Weber of Wauseon (413.00).

Elle Schmidt of Mansfield St. Peter’s and Allie Alter of New Albany rounded out the top five.

They were followed by Erin O’Donnell of Perry, Kelcie Mehwald of Parma Padua and Valinger, MacKenzie Tweardy of Elyria Catholic in ninth and Lacy Mynhier of Wauseon in 10th.

The boys Div. II diving competition was also held, with Jeff Craig of Mogadore Field winning the event with a score of 481.70.

Gabe Dixson (466.75) of New Albany was second followed by Jamie Englehardt of Chagrin Falls (466.30).

The competition continues today with diving in girls and boys Div. I. The swimming preliminaries begin on Friday and the championships conclude on Saturday.