Jericho's Tristan Yang matches sister Rachel with diving state title
Jericho's Tristan Yang competes in the 1 Meter Diving preliminary round of the 2023 NYSPHSAA Boys Swimming & Diving Championships in Ithaca, N.Y., on Friday. Credit: Heather Ainsworth
ITHACA, N.Y. — Tristan Yang ascended to the highest platform on the awards stand at Ithaca College’s Athletics and Events Center on Friday, just like Rachel Yang had done in November at Webster Aquatic Center.
A brother and sister both dove to the top in the same school year.
Tristan, a 14-year-old freshman at Jericho, did his part at the NYSPHSAA and Federation boys diving championships to join Rachel as a state champion in the event.
Tristan finished second overall behind Federation winner Nicholas Graham of Tottenville from the PSAL, 559.55-544.05, but ruled over the public school standings after 11 dives.
“I think it’s pretty cool that we both won,” Tristan said. “She was like, ‘You better win.’ When she won her states, she said, ‘You know it would be cool if you won your states, too.’ ”
Rachel, a junior, won both the public school state title and Federation girls championship.
Tristan took a step up after he finished fourth in both the state and the Federation as an eighth-grader.
“It’s just truly amazing,” said D.J. Volosevich, who coaches Jericho’s boys and girls divers. “I think we’re the first school in New York history to win both genders in one school year. They’re definitely the first two [siblings] in Nassau County to win in their respective genders.”
The thing was, Tristan pulled this off despite an injury.
“He had a little bit of a strained quad, which kind of limited the amount of power he could have,” Volosevich said.
Tristan arrived hoping to be in the top three.
“It means a lot to me since it’s my freshman year,” he said of his title. “I think I did pretty good.”
Yang’s teammate Kazuki Kadota-Browner did well, too, finishing seventh in the state and eighth in the Federation.
Thomas McCarthy, who dives for the combined South Side/Lynbrook team, placed in the state and 10th in the Federation. Colin Buscarino, who dives for the combined Smithtown/Hauppauge team, finished 24th in the state and 26th in the Federation.
