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San Juan Hills diver Avery Giese delivered when it counted most Thursday to become a state champion.
The sophomore scored mostly 8.0s and 7.5s on her 11th and final dive — a back 1 1/2 somersault with 1/2 twist on the 1-meter springboard — to capture the CIF State title by less than half-a-point at Clovis West High in Fresno.
Giese finished with 497.0 points to edge Clayton Valley freshman Molly Gray by 0.35 points in a close girls competition.
Four other divers finished less than 20 points of the lead, including fourth-place Sheridan Smith of Santa Margarita (481.95) and sixth-place Taylor Fox of San Juan Hills (477.65).
Clutch time at the CIF State meet: Avery Giese clinches state title on her 11th and final dive, wins by just 0.35! @ocvarsity @OCVswimdive @sjhhsathletics pic.twitter.com/SQFWQ5NBF4
— Dan Albano (@ocvarsityguy) May 13, 2022
Giese is the second Orange County girl to claim a state diving title, joining two-time champion Savannah Stocker of El Toro, now diving for USC. Stocker won in 2018 and 2019, the last time the state meet was held.
Giese ripped her entry on her final dive, which also concluded the girls competition.
She was fourth after the semifinals and eighth following the preliminaries.
Giese built momentum for the state meet by winning the Southern Section’s qualifier in Mission Viejo last week. The Mission Viejo Nadadores diver placed fifth in Division 1.
Alhambra’s Joshua Thai, a Cal-bound senior, captured the boys title with a meet-record score of 654.15. He also set the meet-record in claiming the section’s Division 4 title.
Rhys Davies of Dana Hills placed ninth with a score 499.20 to lead Orange County boys.
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