Jericho's Rachel Yang defends her state girls diving championship

WEBSTER, N.Y. — Rachel Yang approached the New York state Diving Championships with no expectations. What did that get her? First place. Again.

Yang earned 518 points at the Webster Aquatic Center on Friday after she showcased 11 1-meter dives, defending her champion status from last season.

“I still don’t feel like this is real,” Yang said. “Placing first in this meet is a really big privilege, and I’m just so excited I was able to get it again.”

Jericho dive coach D.J. Volosevich said that after a long travel day and just a short amount of practice time before the meet, Rachel’s performance was somehow incredible.

“I couldn’t be prouder of Rachel,” Volosevich said. “The amount of work she puts into this craft of her’s is tremendous, and I was just so happy that the end result showed that all of her hard work pays off.”

Yang was the only diver to earn 500 points in the competition.The runner-up, Brooke Terwilliger, scored a 488.70.

“Being the only one to score over 500 this year is really the cherry on top,” Volosevich said.

When Yang was called to the podium, the first thing she did was give all of the runners-up a hug. Volosevich says that that’s a prime example of her humble and sportsman-like character.

“Even though we all compete against each other, at the end of the day, they’re all my best friends and I am just so proud of all of them,” Yang said. “Last year, I gave a handshake. But since it’s my senior year, I needed to give hugs.”

Lindenhurst senior Natalia Chornomidza placed seventh with a score of 461.45. She says she had a rough season, so being able to make the top ten at the state championship was a huge accomplishment.

“I’ve come a really long way,” Chornomidza said. “I hit the board with my hands twice in the one of my dives this season.”

Instead of letting that discourage her, she says she thinks she dove the best she has this season.

“I was so scared while preparing for today that I’d make that mistake again,” she said. “But I was able to overcome that and I’m just so proud of myself.”

Connetquot’s Kelsey Kreuscher finished ninth with 451.95 and teammate Lara Booth Alam finished 11th with 435.10. Riley Metz of Ward Melville placed 15th with 423.15.

Although Yang’s time on the board for Jericho has come to an end, she said that she couldn’t be any happier than ending her high school dive career with another state championship title.

“It feels great to end this way honestly," Yang said, "But now I get to look forward to meets in college.”