Sebring's Spiegel Places Second At District Meet

SEBRING - Sebring diver Shaanan Spiegel set a goal for himself before the start of Thursday's Class 2A-District 7 diving meet: Move on.

Spiegel, despite some strong competition, made sure he advanced to next week's regional meet by coming through with his best effort of the season.

The Blue Streak senior scored a season-best 344.27 points in 11 dives in the 1-meter competition at the Blue Streak pool.

"I'm happy to be moving on to regional," Spiegel said. "I felt good today and this was one of my best efforts of the season.

"I think the difficulty of my dives helped my scores, and now I've got to work even harder because the competition at regional will be that much tougher."

Spiegel, a member of the 2006 Highlands Today All-Heartland diving team, is intent on making it to state in his final try.

"I made it to regional last year, but I didn't score enough points to qualify for state," the Blue Streak diver said. "I've increased the difficulty of my dives over the course of the season so I can score more points."

Matt Reiter of Auburndale won the boys meet with a score of 451.20, while Sean Morressey of Winter Haven took third with 268.05.

Sebring junior Spencer Caton finished fourth with 248.70, while Lakeland Kathleen's Reyanil Arroyo came in fifth at 248.20 and Blue Streak junior Colton Statler finished sixth with 244.10
A minimum score of 280 points was required to advance to regional.

"Spencer and Colton have worked hard and really improved," Sebring diving coach James Dion said. "Shaanan had one of his better meets and I'm happy for him because, not only is he a leader, but also one of our hardest workers."

In the girls competition, Alexa Wollach of Newsome won with 426.85 points, while Lake Region's Lindsy Lear placed second with 342.50 and Theresa Tyler of Lake Region finished third at 322.25.

Holly Parnell of Lake Region qualified with a 285, while Sebring junior Nikki Owen placed eighth with 242.60 and Blue Streak junior Michelle Bash finished with 194.80.

"This was a very strong field, and I'm proud of Nikki and Michelle because they both have improved tremendously over the course of the season," James said. "They both come back next year and I'm sure they'll be ready to go."

Spiegel will compete in the Class 2A-Region 3 meet next Friday at St. Petersburg Northeast High School.

"I'm going to train hard the next week to be at my best," Spiegel said. "I'm looking forward to the challenge because this is my last chance."