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Bethel Park’s Capozzi wins WPIAL diving title

By Eleanor Bailey 3 min read
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Maria Capozzi shows off the gold medal she capture for winning the WPIAL Class AAA girls’ diving title.

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Emma Dorazio of Mt. Lebanon shows the form that earned her 11th place in the WPIAL championships.

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Brionna Litwin leaps into her dive during WPIAL Class AAA girls’ championship competition. The Bethel Park senior finished fourth overall and qualified for the PIAA finals set for mid-March at Bucknell University.

A little apprehension brings out the best in Maria Capozzi. The Bethel Park senior needed to nail all three of her finals dives during the WPIAL Class AAA finals if she intended to capture the championship. Because Capozzi did so, she walked home with the gold medal wrapped around her neck. She racked up 487.1 points and slipped passed Adrienne White of Hampton, who finished with a 477.6 score.

“I do (like pressure),” Capozzi said referring to the situation in which she found herself among the leaders but trailing by 11 points. “I get very nervous but I turn the nerves (into something) better for me. I always do a better job when I’m a little nervous.”

As the meet progressed, Capozzi dove better. Plus, she saved her best for last. In the championship round, she scored 51.7, 56.0 and 47.15 on her three dives. Needing only 37.65 on her final dive to clinch victory, she nailed a back somersault with one-and-one-half twists.

“It’s one of my really good dives that I count on,” she commented. “I was extremely nervous but I knew all the practice I put into it that I pretty much was going to nail it.”

Since finishing eighth in last year’s competition, Capozzi has practiced plenty, particularly with her coach, Eric Becker, and her fiercest competitor, her teammate, Brionna Litwin, who came into the meet seeded first with the highest score of the season. Litwin finished fourth overall and qualified with Capozzi for the PIAA championships set for March 17 at Bucknell University.

“Coach has helped me both mentally and physically so much this year,” said Capozzi, who also agreed that diving alongside Litwin is an equal benefit. “All season we have been going back and forth with scores (Litwin). We both pushed ourselves to the fullest potential.

Capozzi continued about the experience that enabled her to leapfrog to the top. She admitted she benefited from last year’s competition. “I definitely learned that even though you have one or two bad divers to not let yourself be down the rest of the meet because every dive counts,” she said.

Capozzi certainly made her doubles count. She was pleased with those particular dives.

“Definitely my inward double put me over the top,” she said and added, “I feel my reverse double was very good.”

While Capozzi is good enough to dive in college–she is strongly considering Ohio University where she will major in nursing–she is solely focused on the upcoming state championships. So far, she said that she couldn’t be happier with her senior season but she awaits more at the PIAA finals.

“Honestly,” she said, “my goals are to dive my best and I’ll see where that takes me.”

With the tiniest bit of tension, Capozzi is sure to go far.

NOTES: In addition to Capozzi and Litwin, three divers from Mt. Lebanon, Emma Dorazio (11th), Kalliope Bicket (14th) and Sydney Donati (22nd) and one from Peters Township, Morgan Malencia, competed in the girls’ AAA diving.

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