WILKES-BARRE — It may have happened Saturday night. It might wait until after states. But someday, eventually, Sophia Ginocchetti is going to bring it up to her old man — she became district diving champion before her father.

Ginocchetti followed in the family footsteps by winning the District 2-4 Class 3A Regional Diving Championship on Saturday evening in the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center. The Wyoming Valley West sophomore walked away with her first gold medal by beating Williamsport’s Megan Kendall by 119.7 points.

“It feels amazing this year to get my first gold medal,” she said. “To go to states is even better.”

Ginocchetti will also have something to hang over the head of her coach. She narrowly edged her coach Karina Zabresky’s five-year district record by 3.85 points. Ginocchetti’s personal-best score of 452.1 came just 4.3 points shy of the all-time regional high score.

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“This is overwhelming,” Ginocchetti said. “I grew up at these boards. These are the first diving boards I ever stepped on. To get the high score here, it is amazing.”

Her father, Brian, was a two-time district champion as a junior and senior at Bishop Hoban in the mid-1990s. The former Argent won a PIAA state diving title in 1995, setting a new PIAA benchmark in the process. Ginocchetti’s mother Liz (Daniels) was a standout swimmer at Meyers.

“My dad won districts as a junior and senior. So to get it before him feels awesome,” Ginocchetti said. “I don’t expect to place at states but just to even go is awesome.”

Through five rounds, Ginocchetti had already paced the field by 50 points. By the third round, she had grown the attention of the grandstands that lauded each of her high scores from the judges.

She will compete at PIAA Championships on March 15 at Bucknell University. It is Wyoming Valley West’s first regional championship since Zabresky in 2013.

Abington Height’s Carter Smith won the boys championship with a 463.5 score.

DISTRICT 2-4 3A DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Girls

Diving — 1. WVW Sophia Ginocchetti, 452.1; 2. WIL Megan Kendall 331.4; 3. WIL Madison Marchese 329.1; 4. DV Taliyah Booker 300.2; 5. AH Camille Marquardt 285.6; 6. DV Alyssa Harlin 285.2; 7. WVW Aria DeSilva 271.55; 8. WIL Lila Vogelsong 268.25; 9. WIL Mia Jones 255.65; 10. WVW Nadia Costigan 237.75

Boys

Diving — 1. AH Carter Smith 463.5; 2. WIL Jack Beattie 334.45; 3. DV Jake Wenzel 278.2; 4. WVW Ivan Volynets 269.15; 5. DV Matt Seger 263.65; 6. WIL Cody Shope 262.95; 7. WVW Illia Volkovinsky 238.4; 8. WVW Connor Rosencrans 227.3

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By Jay Monahan

For Times Leader

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