Bethel Park’s Maria Capozzi Wins AAA Gold on Final Dive
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Sunday, February 28, 2016 | 10:26 AM
In a meet seemingly dominated by underclassmen, it was a senior who ended up top of the class. Bethel Park’s Maria Capozzi finally broke through to the taste the gold at the Girls Class AAA Diving Championships at North Allegheny High School. Capozzi slipped past Hampton’s Adrienne White in the finals, defeating her by just under ten points.
Capozzi used her experience from three previous trips to the WPIAL Diving Championships to her advantage. She finished 19th as a freshman, 7th as a sophomore, and 8th last year as a junior. Trailing White by 19 points after the preliminary round and by 10.9 points after the semi-final round, Capozzi stacked three of her best, most difficult dives in the finals. She averaged nearly 52 points per dive in the final three dives. Her final dive of a 47.15 gave her the gold medal.
Adrienne White led most of the competition, but was passed on the 10th of 11 dives by Capozzi. White finished with the silver medal. Pine-Richland’s Mallory Charles, who finished 2nd as a freshman last year, took home the bronze. Brionna Litwin, Capozzi’s Bethel Park teammate and the only other senior to finish in the top ten, missed the podium by 1.4 points. Freshman Maddie Huitt of Pine-Richland rounded out the top five, all of whom now qualify for the PIAA Championships on March 17th at Bucknell University.
Here is the order of finish for the girls championships:
1. Maria Capozzi Bethel Park 487.10
2. Adrienne White Hampton 477.60
3. Mallory Charles Pine-Richland 452.85
4. Brionna Litwin Bethel Park 451.45
5. Maddie Huitt Pine-Richland 432.95
(The top 5 qualify for the PIAA championships)
6. Elizabeth Smith Allderdice 428.50
7. Taylor Miller Latrobe 418.95
8. Maddie Mianzo North Allegheny 371.20
9. Paige Kalilk Penn-Trafford 370.05
10. Dixon Veltri Fox Chapel 362.55
11. Emma D’Orazio Mt. Lebanon 350.25
12. Autumn Fotta North Hills 347.45
13. Erin Ferarri Baldwin 333.75
14. Kalli Bickett Mt. Lebanon 330.90
15. Mara Ojeda West Allegheny 330.40
16. Alexandra Smithco Seneca Valley 329.80
(The top 16 advanced to the Final Round)
17. Mary Bobik Greater Latrobe 235.70
18. Morgan Malencia Peters Township 224.30
19. Rachel Douglas Latrobe 224.05
20. Masy Kelly Moon Area 223.15
(The top 20 advanced to the Semi-Final Round)
21. Amber Shuey Hempfield 114.30
22. Sydney Donati Mt. Lebanon 139.35
23. Peyton Moore Seneca Valley 138.50
24. Quinn Scharding Baldwin 138.00
25. Katelyn Caccamo Seneca Valley 134.85
26. Meghan Busch North Hills 131.35
27. Julianna DiPippa Baldwin 125.55
28. Gabbrielle Romano Seneca Valley 120.95
29. Alexis Kauffman Baldwin 118.10
30. Karlee Schneider Hempfield 114.20
31. Madison Kirk Connellsville 110.65
32. Maria Mariani Moon Area 102.45
33. Riley Aul Woodland Hills 100.35
34. Sophie Kennedy Upper St. Clair 98.60
35. Paige Bachner Kiski Area Scratch
Tags: Bethel Park
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