Grayson Campbell breaks through for Virginia state diving record
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Version 0 of 1. With three dives to go at Oakmarr RECenter, Grayson Campbell picked up his cellphone and punched in his score through eight dives. He had done well through the early rounds and he was in first. But winning wasn’t the Madison senior’s only objective Friday, and he needed to figure how many points he needed still. Campbell had two goals entering Virginia 6A diving championships: repeat as state champion and break the 600-point barrier. Achieving the latter would all but ensure the former. No diver in the state meet’s history had reached the mark before, and only one had gone beyond it in any postseason meet. If Campbell were to do so, it would be a first for himself as well. “I went to my phone after each dive and recalculated, so I knew exactly what I needed for the next dive,” Campbell said. “. . . When I saw the scores for my final dive, I knew I’d done it. I felt relief.” Campbell set a new state record Friday with a score of 607.60 points. It was the Texas-bound senior’s third title in four years in the 1-meter event. Grayson’s teammate, Greg Duncan, a junior, finished second with a score of 520.90.Robinson freshman Max Flory was third (512.65), followed by W.T. Woodson sophomore Conor Casey (500.85) and Fairfax senior Samson Miller (488.75). Mount Vernon sophomore Hailey Fisher claimed the girls’ title with a score of 447.10 points, followed by South Lakes sophomore Emma Bulger (404.15), McLean senior Delaney Gallagher (396.20), South County senior Maggie Pionzio (389.85) and Robinson junior Emily Gross (352.20). Campbell, who first won as a freshman, improved on his own state meet record from last season by more than 36 points. Campbell also moved ahead of Robinson’s Cory Bowersox, a senior at Texas and the only other diver to break the 600-point barrier in Virginia competition. He did so in 2012 at a district championship meet, winning with a score of 602.75. Campbell and Bowersox were briefly club teammates before the elder diver departed for Texas. “Watching him dive, training with him, I always strived to be like him,” Campbell said. “Reaching 600 had been a goal of mine since freshman year. . . . I knew Cory had done it too. I didn’t realize until after that I’d beaten his score though.” The pair will compete this summer at the U.S. Olympic diving trials in Indianapolis. Bowersox is qualified in multiple individual and synchro events. Campbell is qualified for the 3-meter event, as is Duncan. Flory is qualified as a member of a 10-meter platform synchro team. “There probably isn’t another state that will have that many high school divers competing at trials,” Campbell said. “The area has really grown its diving reputation and you can see that in how many junior divers that will be competing this summer.” Virginia’s state swimming and diving championship will conclude Saturday at George Mason University with swimming finals. |