Penn-Trafford’s Joey Ference Captures WPIAL Boys AAA Diving Gold
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Monday, February 16, 2015 | 8:02 PM
What a difference a year makes. Last year at North Allegheny High School, Joey Ference had a failed dive on his next to last attempt which cost him the silver medal. The Penn-Trafford junior made sure there would be no such drama at this year’s meet, leading throughout and finishing in first place with a score of 589.40. Ference did capture the bronze last year with a score of 403.20 and he finished 11th as a freshman two years ago.
North Allegheny senior Andrew Doerfler was strong again and captured his second consecutive silver medal finishing 86.35 points behind Ference with a score of 503.05. Mt. Lebanon senior Cary Johns who finished fourth last year, moved up one slot this year, scoring 484.20 points to grab the bronze medal.
Ference, who finished 11th in the PIAA Championships last year, will head back to Bucknell University representing the WPIAL – District 7 on Saturday March 14th. The top five finishers from this year’s event will head to the state competition. Along with Ference, Doerfler and Johns, Andrew Sederholm and Ference’s Penn-Trafford teammate senior Mike Bertoni qualified for the PIAA Championships.
Sederholm, the Franklin Regional junior, scored 416.30 points to finish fourth and Bertoni placed fifth at 408.05. Doerfler placed 14th in last year’s state tournament, Sederholm was 21st and Johns placed 25th at Bucknell. Bertoni will be making his first appearance in the PIAA Championships.
Here is the final order of finish:
(The Top 5 divers have qualified for the PIAA Diving Championships at Bucknell University. The top 16 finishers competed in the final round at North Allegheny and the top 20 were in the semifinal round. The final 14 divers did not advance from the preliminary round.)
1 Ference, Joey JR Penn Trafford 589.40
2 Doerfler, Andrew SR North Allegheny 503.05
3 Johns, Cary SR Mount Lebanon 484.20
4 Sederholm, Andrew JR Franklin Regional 416.30
5 Bertoni, Mike SR Penn Trafford 408.05
6 Barta, Taylor JR Greater Latrobe 405.60
7 Schon, Kevin JR Franklin Regional 380.70
8 Kisiel, Luke SR Connellsville 374.70
9 Savchik, Stepehn JR North Allegheny 353.45
10 Wolff, Joey JR North Hills 351.85
11 Ziegler, Jared JR North Allegheny 339.10
12 Paszek, Nate SR Penn Trafford 328.80
13 Shaw, Austin FR Pine-Richland 327.35
14 Swindal, Joe SR Mount Lebanon 325.55
15 Zottola, John SR Fox Chapel 316.95
16 Bumgarner, Lucas FR Mount Lebanon 302.95
17 Donovan, Brendan SR Shaler 229.05
18 Curry, Levi SR North Allegheny 228.60
19 Yawitz, Tate SO Hempfield 208.85
20 Kelly, Evan SO Shaler 210.00
21 Balta, Chris SO Upper St. Clair 145.45
22 Lohman, Brett SR Upper St. Clair 144.90
23 Turconi, Matt JR Pine-Richland 144.00
24 Schmelzer, Mike JR Shaler 143.70
25 Kissell, Chad SR Greater Latrobe 141.40
26 Hosfelt, Jordan SR Connellsville 136.40
27 Bachner, Blake SR Kiski Area 135.40
28 Pietrusinski, Nick SO Gateway 135.25
29 Kindt, Zach JR Hempfield 134.85
30 Saunders, Ryan FR Peters Township 133.50
31 Mulaski, Bradley SO Penn Hills 133.30
32 Penascino, Isaac SR Bethel Park 128.45
33 Skidmore. Mitch SR Moon 109.20
34 Pollock, Tyler JR Moon 102.35
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