Jackson Hagler leads strong contingent of Fox Chapel divers at WPIAL championships

By: Michael Love
Friday, February 21, 2025 | 8:55 PM

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Jackson Hagler dove at WPIALs as a freshman, placed sixth overall and qualified for the PIAA championships at Bucknell University.

The Fox Chapel senior and Bucknell commit followed that first WPIAL experience three years ago with a fourth as a sophomore and a silver medal last year while adding two additional state-meet trips to his future home.

Hagler will take his wealth of experience in championship meets with him to North Allegheny High School on Saturday afternoon as he attempts to reach the top of the podium and go for WPIAL gold.

“I am excited,” Hagler said.

“It’s kind of bittersweet, too, that it is the final WPIAL meet for me. I am looking forward to being strong against some really good competition. There’s a good chance that I don’t win, and there’s a good chance that I do win. I am just anxious to get there. It’s always a fun competition.”

Hagler will lead a sizable contingent of Fox Chapel divers into Saturday’s championship meets.

Five of the six, including sophomore Finn Kress on the boys side, and seniors Ainsley Anderson, Elle Dering and Noelle Dick for the girls, are returning with previous WPIAL competition experience.

Only sophomore Gosha Pistsov is new to WPIALs. He came up just short in his qualifying attempt last year.

The 3A girls will dive starting at 9:30 a.m., and the boys will take to the pool at 1:30 p.m.

There will be a new WPIAL champion crowned in boys Class 3A as the two-time champion, Seneca Valley’s Isaiah Clerkley, graduated and is now a freshman at Penn State.

Hagler said he has faced every one of the top divers at one point or another in the season including at the Beaver Bobcats Diving Invitational on Jan. 25.

The one he didn’t face there, top seed Malcolm Thompson, a senior from Mt. Lebanon, he went up against in a dual meet.

“I also dive with Malcolm, (North Allegheny junior) Ethan (Maravich), and (Upper St. Clair sophomore Carter Wells) at Pitt,” Hagler said.

“I am close friends with all of them. We all want each other to do well. The competition Saturday is going to be amazing.”

Hagler goes in seeded second with a season-best score of 314, just four points behind Thompson’s 318.95.

Connellsville junior William Gillott is the second seed with a top score of 307.30.

The top four finishers in the boys and girls meets will advance to states the week of March 12.

Sophomore Finn Kress said last year’s WPIAL experience in which he placed 11th overall with a total of 269.65 points should serve him well for his return Saturday.

His season-best 216 for six dives achieved in the home finale Feb. 6 places him as the ninth seed.

“I have a lot more confidence,” said Kress, who hopes to make his move well into the top 10 Saturday.

“I know what to expect and what I have to do to get a good score. I am confident in all of my dives. I know I can go higher (than 269.65) this year.”

Pistsov said his experience competing at an 11-dive invitational will serve him well for Saturday. He said being so close last year served as a great deal of motivation to come back, improve his resume of dives and get in the WPIAL lineup. He qualified at the first meet of the season and owns a season-best 200 score, which puts him as the No. 11 seed.

On the girls side, Anderson and Dering will compete at WPIALs for the third time, while Dick makes her second appearance at the championships.

“All three had the best practice of their lives today,” Fox Chapel diving coach Vernon Yenick said. “They are so ready for WPIALs. They have performed so well all season and have put in so much time in preparation to do well on Saturday. I think they are all going to do really well.

“They are so good with each other and are so supportive of each other. I’ve never seen an overall group so cohesive. That bond really carries over into how they compete. They just feed off each other so well. They care for each other, and it is so nice to see that.”

Anderson made her WPIAL debut as a sophomore and placed 20th overall.

Last year, she made a big leap into contention for a spot at states. She finished seventh in the finals with a total of 364.40 points.

Yenick feels Anderson is primed to make a run at one of the top four spots and get to Bucknell.

“I definitely think she can do it,” he said. “She has to dive her butt off, but she has the dives to do it. That would be great for her.”

Dick finished 11th last year in her first WPIAL meet, scoring 330.00 points. She is gunning for another trip to the finals designated for the top 16 after the semifinal round.

Dering took 22nd as a sophomore in 2023 but made a move up four spots and into the semifinals last year, where she finished 18th overall (223.45).

“It is really nice to have six divers compete at WPIALs,” Yenick said. “All of the work over the past couple months comes down to this meet. They are ready to represent Fox Chapel well.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Fox Chapel