Dolphins distant 3rd in diving

Published 11:30 pm Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Stuart Heights won seven of 10 age-group titles Wednesday in the diving portion of the Chattanooga Area Swim League City Meet held at Dalton High School.

The Dalton’s Dolphins’ best finish was Josephine Conley’s second-place effort in the girls’ 8-under division with 68.15 points. In boys 13-14 competition, the Dolphins’ Garrison Mulkey was fourth with 131 points.

With its strong showing in diving, Stuart Heights grabbed the early lead with 403 points and Signal Mountain was second with 317 and Dalton rounded out the three-team competition with 45 points.

“We only had three teams and fifty divers,” Dolphins coach Charles Todd said. “I’m afraid it’s almost a lost sport because of insurance and people afraid of getting hurt. And a lot of pools don’t have the required depth of 12 1/2 feet. We’re at 12 1/2 feet at Dalton, so we’re all right.”

Stuart Heights winners were Dylan Sprinz (8-under boys), Eva Binder (9-10 girls), Max Ransom (9-10 boys), Chase Martin (11-12 boys), Ryan Smith (13-14 boys), Julianne Wilson (15-18 girls) and Michael Howell (15-18 boys). Signal Mountain winners were Megan Burnette (8-under girls) and Sarah Smith (11-12 girls) and Marissa Roth (13-14 girls).

The swimming competition, which Dalton will host at the Arlene Crye Pool in Fort Oglethorpe, begins Friday and concludes on Saturday. Preliminaries will be held throughout the day, with finals scheduled to start at 6 p.m. each night.

Dalton’s title hopes will be hampered this weekend when some of its top swimmers will compete in the 14-and-under USA Swimming state meet at the Dynamo Swim Club.