Corish Wins State Dive Title

Madison’s Kelly Corish won the VHSL AAA state diving meet with a final score of 428.25, beating Robinson’s Laura Gartrell by seven points.

Corish entered the finals on Saturday as the favorite after placing first Friday’s preliminary round with a score of 301.05. She bested Gartrell by a shade less than 11 points in the opening round, and it was down to the two stars from the Northern Region in the final day of competition.

Teammate Ryan Fox came in second on the boys’ side with a final score of 447.70. No one was within shouting distance of the champion, Washington-Lee’s Carl Buergler.

Buergler and Fox had all but locked up the top two spots after the preliminary round, as Buergler posted a score of 367.35 on Friday, with Fox behind him at 329.95. The next closest competitor was Joseph LeBerre of Oakton, who scored 302.4 points on the first day. He finished the meet in third place.

Overall, the Madison swim and dive teams did not have the sort of collective success that Corish and Fox experienced individually. The boys came in 15th, while the girls finished the meet in 17th. Westfield won the boys state title, with Frank W. Cox (Virginia Beach) in second and Langley in third. The Saxons won the girls competition, with Northern Region rivals Oakton in second and Robinson in third.