South Fayette’s Mahoney wins WPIAL AA diving title

After finishing runner-up in diving last year, Trevor Mahoney set his sights on winning the 2016 WPIAL Class AA championship. However, a funny thing happened on the way to his gold medal. The harder he worked, the worse he seemed to become as a diver and as a person.
“Beginning of the year,” Mahoney started, “I put so much pressure on myself. Oh my god,” he continued recalling his self-deprecating tirades. “I would come home from practices or meets yelling at myself.”
“Yes,” Mahoney’s father, Tim, said, “Trevor was that way. Tough on himself.”
As the critiques were not helping him, Mahoney made a decision.
“I decided to stop putting pressure on myself and just focus on having fun,” said the son of Sandy Mahoney. “I worried about my dives and not winning. I told myself to just do your best.”
This past Saturday, Feb. 27, Mahoney’s best was good enough for gold. The junior came from behind to claim the WPIAL title at North Allegheny. He racked up 415.85 points to place ahead of John Ek, who finished with a 392 score. Ek had led by 18 points after nine rounds.
Mahoney made up the margin with a marvelous entry in the 10th round. He completed a two-and-one-half somersault and earned a spectacular score of 57.6 to take the lead.
Of the dive, which boasts a degree of difficulty of 2.5, Mahoney said he definitely was solid. “When I hit the water, I knew,” said Mahoney of the medal-clincher. “It was amazing because I could hear the applause of the crowd even though I was under the water.”
When he emerged from the pool, Mahoney held an 11-point advantage. All he needed to do was nail his 11th dive, a “hard to perform” inward double. Mahoney did so, scoring 49 points and sealing his first championship.
“It’s surreal because I’ve done so much hard work and it all came down to this,” he said. “I was hungry. I really wanted this,” he added of the medal he clutched in his hand and stowed in his warm-up pants all weekend. “My main goal was to go to WPIALs and win it this year.
“Winning is so much better,” he added compared to last year’s second-place silver.
A three-time WPIAL finalist, finishing fifth as a freshman, Mahoney has bettered all the school marks at South Fayette, even though he has been directed by three different high school coaches and two more mentors from the South Park Diving Club. Mahoney now turns his sights to performing his best at the PIAA championships set for March 18 at Bucknell University.
“At states,” he said, “I’m hoping to get on the podium and bring home some hardware.”
With yet another season remaining, as he is a high school junior, Mahoney expects to continue controlling his emotions and taming the boards until he is ensconced in the college of his choice. Currently, Westminster has expressed interest but, according to Mahoney, Division I schools are unable to verbally contact underclassmen at this point in his career.
“I hope to get a scholarship and dive at a high level in college, but right now, I have no expectations,” he said regarding prospects beyond high school. “I’m focused on states, doing my best and having fun.”
Two additional South Fayette divers had fun and did well enough to place in the Top 10 during the WPIAL finals. Nate Petrow finished eighth in the boys’ competition while Maddie Zombek secured seventh in the girls’ AA meet.
Johns 4th in AAA
Owen Johns finished fourth in the WPIAL Class AAA boys’ diving championships held at North Allegheny. The Mt. Lebanon freshman is qualified for the PIAA championships set for March 16 at Bucknell University.
Johns racked up 428.25 points. Penn-Trafford’s Joey Ference successfully defended his title, winning the championship with a 546 score.
Joe Swindal, also from Mt. Lebanon, rounded out the Top 10. He scored 365.45 points.
Other local competitors and their finishes included: Chris Balta (15th) from Upper St. Clair; Micheal Grunebach (21st) from Chartiers Valley; Lucas Bumgarner (23rd) from Mt. Lebanon; Sarah Fulton (27th) and Anthony Plutt (28th) from Bethel Park.