SANTA CLARA—Christopher High diver Anthony Lopez is light-years ahead of where he was three years ago. As a freshman, the Cougar finished 27th at the Central Coast Section Swim and Dive Championships. This year, the Cougar contorted his body in impossible ways to take his place among the section’s best with a ninth place finish.
Lopez scored 325.95 points through the 11-dive meet at CCS May 16 at the Santa Clara International Swim Center. It was the third time the Cougar has made the trip to the sectional tournament.
“Anthony (Lopez) should be pleased with his performance—he is knocking on the door of the elite divers in the CCS,” Cougar coach Paul Wells said. “My desire for him is a Top 6 finish, but that top tier is extremely difficult to move into. He is poised to make that move and has the strength and will to make it happen,”
With the top four divers now eligible to compete in the California State Championships, Wells said he and Lopez would be re-evaluating their goal for his senior season.
Cougars Cameron Munter and Kaelee Scott also competed at the CCS Championships, helping their diving team to a fourth place finish behind Santa Teresa, Palo Alto and Half Moon Bay.
Munter had a breakout performance, finishing 11th in his rookie season with the Cougars. Unfortunately for Scott, she did not earn enough points to advance to semifinal competition.
The freshman Munter has been diving for just six months, and Wells called his performance “the surprise of the meet.” This was the first major competition for the Cougar and his goal was simply to make it out of the preliminary round.
“We front loaded his first five (preliminary) dives with more difficult dives, which he could hit if he was ‘on’,” Wells said.
Munter sat in 13th place after the preliminary round and was safe from elimination as the top 20 advance. The field is cut to 16 after the semifinals and, once again, Munter made the cut having moved up to 12th. The freshman had exceeded expectations and Well said that anything from here on out was “simply a bonus.”
His final round consisted of “low difficulity” dives and needed to score well to hold his position. He notched 6s and 7s on the final three dives to finish in 11th place.
Though Scott didn’t advance to the semifinals, Wells said she shouldn’t hang her head. The sophomore performed a consistent preliminary round, but unfortunately couldn’t squeak into the the fiercely competitive Top 10.
“Kaelee (Scott) knew going into the competition that she did not have the dive difficulty, but she is such a competitor she simply wanted to be there,” Wells said. “She is a very impressive young lady (with) so much heart and courage. To have qualified for the CCS after only five months of part-time practice is an amazing accomplishment.”
The diving team garnered 15 CCS points for Christopher, helping it finish 32nd overall in the standings for combined swim and dive teams.
