Frederick, Barron are golden

FOUNTAIN SPRINGS – It was an exciting night on three accounts for the Tamaqua diving program Friday.

First, the boys crowned a champion for the second straight year at the Schuylkill League Diving Championships.

There was a new champion for the girls, as well.

And their coach, Mariann Shilko, was beaming proudly, too.

Shilko saw her son Billy capture a silver medal, as the gold went to teammate Billy Fredrick.

But perhaps the biggest surprise came when freshman Tressa Barron was the diving champion on the ladies side.

“I never thought this would happen,” said Barron, after she nailed her 11th and final dive to overtake Pottsville’s Hanna Kruppenbach 252.50-246-75. Kruppenbach led halfway through the meet. The improbable finish came after some trouble in round 10 while chasing the Pottsville diver, who had inched in front of Barron, 227.25-216.20.

“I just missed that dive,” said Barron of the front double twist. “I did that (dive) before in the (previous) meet with good results.”

Barron’s win wasn’t lost on her coach.

“She is very good, and she has that mental toughness,” said her coach. “Yeah, it was a nail bitter; all of the (dives) were tense.”

In the boys competition, Tamaqua’s diving duo were heavy favorites to repeat after winning the two top spots as juniors last season. Only this time, they flip-flopped in order; Frederick the winner and Shilko the second-place finisher.

“It is great fun to be around each other,” said Frederick. “We have friendly competition going between us.”

That includes picking up a Super Bowl chant, rephrasing it to Billy-Billy.

“Yeah that started a few weeks ago,” said Shilko about the commercial Dilly-Dilly, which has turned into Billy-Billy.

After each successful dive, the Tamaqua divers would let loose with a “Billy-Billy” in Donald Bricker Natatorium.

“Fredrick did one heck of a job,” said Coach Shilko. “They are so competitive but have a lot of respect for each other. I thought Billy would have a stronger meet, but I can’t complain about the results. As long as we won the meet and got the two best divers to the podium, that’s what’s important.”

Frederick smashed his career-best scoring with 377.80 points, outdistancing Shilko’s 357.25. After the preliminary rounds, the writing was heavily favoring Billy-Billy.

“I can relax now,” admitted Coach Shilko. “This has been a nail-bitter all season.”

QUOTE UNQUOTE … After her failed dive, Barron said, “I worried that I wasn’t going to place.” She immediately showed mental toughness and savvy on her final dive.

ONE MISS FOR SHILKO … Billy Shilko had a failed dive in the 10th round, too, which killed his chances of back-to-back titles.

SWIMMING ON TAP … The swimming portion of the league championship starts this morning at 11 in Pottsville.

SCHUYLKILL DIVING RESULTS

Boys

1. Frederick (T) 377.80; 2. Shilko (T) 357.25; 3. Sopko (BM) 298.40; 4. Holobetz (P) 289.10; 5. Golden (P) 287.05; 6. Kokitus (P) 270.95; 7. Guldin (NS) 248.70; 8. Valentine (T) 224.70; 10. Adams (T) 206.15; 11. Pickford (T) 190.30; 12. Hepler (NS) 180.35.

Girls

1. Barron (T) 252.50; 2. Kruppenbach (P) 246.75; 3. Harding (BM) 240.25; 4. Laughlin (BM) 214.15; 5. Clews (NS) 213.75; 6. Antanavage (NS) 212.70.