Conard Diver Wins Class LL State Championship
Audio By Carbonatix
Conard divers, from left: Alison Colburn, Mia Rosario, Rachel Giroux and Gabrielle Alekshun. Courtesy photo
Alison Colburn set a new record for West Hartford’s Conard High School during the Class LL competition.
By John Smachetti
Conard girls swim and dive kicked off its state competition on Thursday night with Class LL diving at Sheehan High School. Senior Alison Colburn, last year’s Class L champion, along with senior captain Rachel Giroux and sophomores Gabrielle Alekshun and Mia Rosario put on quite a show in the 11-dive format.
The competition quickly turned into a three way battle for the title between last year’s Class LL and State Open champion, senior Hannah Chuckas (Westhill) and fifth place State Open finisher Jade-su Casey (Glastonbury).
The three girls we locked in a tight race the entire meet. After 3 rounds, Alison held a narrow lead of 7.9 points over Hannah and with Jade-su trailing by 19.8 points.
After eight rounds, Alison had marginally increased her lead to 10 and 20.6 points over Hannah and Jade-su.
Two rounds later, with all divers staying sharp, Alison’s lead opened a bit more with the lead stretching to 16.2 and 33.45.
In round 11, Hannah scored a hefty 48.3 points on her dive, forcing Alison to need 32.15 points to win. Alison didn’t blink, and with a dive that had a degree of difficulty of 2.1, Alison earned 22 judge’s awards for a total of 46.2 points and a 14.1 point win.
Alison’s final score of 500.6 is a new Conard record, eclipsing a mark she set last year.
Gabrielle Alekshun had a personal best score of 359.75 as she finished 10th and along with Alison will move on to the State Open in Middletown where Alison is seated second and Gabrielle is seeded 18th.
Rachel Giroux and Mia Rosario finished 19th and 20th for Conard at the meet.
Alison’s first place finish earned her All-State honors (top three finishers at the class meet are All-State).
Like what you see here? Click here to subscribe to We-Ha’s newsletter so you’ll always be in the know about what’s happening in West Hartford! Click the blue button below to become a supporter of We-Ha.com and our efforts to continue producing quality journalism.
