Diving began as a way to get out of additional swimming for Kentridge High’s Quinton Wong.
This past Saturday at Curtis High in University Place, diving turned into an adrenaline rush and a state berth for Wong, who helped the Chargers take third place at the South Puget Sound League meet with 150 total team points.
Beamer walked away with the team title, racking up 249 total points followed by second-place Curtis at 230.
Wong, however, proved to be one of the handful of highlights from Kentridge. Wong finished second in the diving competition, collecting 305.10 points, just enough to earn a state berth. To qualify for state, divers must break the 300-point barrier and do so in a manner that includes dives of varying difficulty.
Wong clinched a state berth on his final attempt.
“I basically had a lot of adrenaline pumping,” Wong admitted. “I had to come out at the right time, point my toes at the right time and needed to think as much as I could about what I was doing.”
When Wong, a senior, took up diving as a sophomore, qualifying for state wasn’t exactly at the forefront of his mind.
“I thought it was just kind of a fun and easy way of getting out of swimming,” he admitted.
Wong will lead a cast of nine Chargers who will compete at this weekend’s West Central District meet at Foss High. Also delivering district-qualifying times for Kentridge were: Bryan Lam (200 free, 100 breast, 400-free relay), Trent Davis (50 free), Jake Dacus (100 butterfly, 200-free relay, 400-free relay), Kyle Wilson (100-free, 100-back), Dallin Connell (500 free, 400-free relay), Tim Bergquist (100 breast), Blake Allen (400-free relay) and Kyle Bige (200-free relay).
ALSO: Kentwood, which finished in 11th place with 42 points, was led by Logan Ryan, who qualified for the district meet in three events (200-yard IM, 100-butterfly and 200-free relay). Also advancing to the district meet for the Conquerors was Jimmy Cutler (200-free relay), Tanner Esser (200-free relay and Tyler Sesnon 200-free relay).
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