Phillips, Stinson earn diving titles

The rest of the ACAC will have to wait to win an event. Friday was the Patriots’ night.
Jay County High School divers Heather Stinson and Christian Phillips swept the Allen County Athletic Conference competition, winning with 311.25 points and 275.5 points respectively.
Stinson’s win came with an ACAC record score as she surpassed the 299.7 posted by South Adams’ Korinna Schindler in winning the inaugural conference meet last season.
“I’m more than ecstatic,” said Stinson. “It’s such a great accomplishment for me.
“In this time of the season I was in a big slump. I was doing not so well.
“So to come out in first and break the ACAC record was just — it’s hard to explain with words. It was amazing.”
Schindler also surpassed her winning score from 2015 as she was the runner-up with 304.05 points. Jay County’s Samantha Link and Mackenzie Knisely were sixth and seventh respectively with 261.65 and 230.05 points.
Evan Kitt of Bluffton trailed Phillips in the boys competition with 256.6 points.
Stinson established herself as the leader early, leading Link by seven points after the opening five dives. She extended the advantage to 13 points after the three semifinal dives with Marissa Tupai of Adams Central, Schindler and Link all within three points of each other for the runner-up spot. And then in the ninth round, Stinson hit the reverse dive with 1.5 somersaults in the tuck position that had been giving her problems all year.
It was having the right mindset, JCHS diving coach Mandi Bruce said, that allowed the senior to overcome that dive and the rest of the competition.
“She came in with the attitude that I’ve been talking to her about — smile on her face, having fun, enjoying what she does,” Bruce said. “And it showed on the board for sure.”
Phillips took a different route to the ACAC title, as his first three dives of the evening were far from his best. He trailed Bluffton’s Landon Harris by more than 13 points after the first five dives. But he was able to refocus and take the lead during the semifinals.
“My first three dives I was a little bit intimidated of the other guys,” said Phillips, noting that he was caught up in thinking about the end result. “After that, I told myself, ‘Don’t worry about first place, don’t worry about sixth place, have fun, do what you’ve got to do …’
It was on his seventh dive, a back dive with 1.5 somersaults in the tuck position, that he truly got back on track.
“He ripped it,” said Bruce. “I think he felt it. He knew at that point, ‘OK, I can do this.’”
By the end of the semifinals he had claimed a three-point lead over Harris, and he pulled away in the final three dives.
Placing three divers in the top seven gives Jay County’s girls a six-point lead over Bluffton heading into today’s swimming events, which begin at 10 a.m. They are seeking to defend their 2015 title.
Defending boys conference champion Bluffton, which took second, third and fifth in diving, has a 19-point cushion over the Patriots.