Last year, Tamaqua senior Thorn Devlin was unable to take part in the Schuylkill League Diving Championships due to an injury he sustained in diving practice the night before the event. This year, the aerial talent made sure to leave his mark upon the end of the season event, as he amassed 372.85 points to best teammate Bill Shilko (361.00) for the individual title.

In the girls' event, the Lady Raiders' Emma Rago stayed close to the leader and eventually finished in second with the silver, as Emma Barrett of Blue Mountain's 270.50 points bested Rago's 264.90.Rago, a junior, was satisfied with the finish, saying, "First would have been nice, but I'm still happy with the second place. I was nervous for a majority of the day because there was one dive that I didn't get to practice that much."Each diver needed to expand their arsenal of dives from six, which they typically do in a regular season meet, to eleven for the championships. While this expansion affects many scholastic divers, Devlin was not one of them.The constant perfectionist commented afterward, "I think three of my 11 dives went the way I wanted them to. I have myself to blame for it, because I didn't get the scores that I wanted to because I wasn't diving up to the standard that I know I'm capable of."According to Rago and Devlin, they were both 'off' in the event."My balance was off today for some reason," Devlin said. "I was leaning off the board, I was falling forward when I was leaving, I don't know why it was happening, but I was just slightly off today."Like in most sports, diving performances can be determined by the slightest of changes - something the two athletes were well aware of.Unlike Devlin, Rago's concern was strictly mental, as she admitted, "I always get nervous for this event, but it affected my dives for most of the day."While both Raiders were content with their finishes on the day, they immediately turn their attention to the District Eleven diving championships in a couple weeks from now."I'm my own worst enemy when it comes to these events, so I just need to tell myself that I can do it and I should be able to get it done," Rago admitted."I thought, coming into today, that I had my dives where I wanted them to be," Devlin said. "I guess for Districts, I'm going to need to practice them over and over until I'm sick to my stomach, because that's where I want to show what I can do."SIAL DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2015-16 RESULTSGIRLS1. Emma Barrett (BM) 270.50, 2. Emma Rago (Tam) 264.90, 3. Delaney Golden (Pot) 247.10, 4. Marcayla Lutzkanin (Pot) 217.15, 5. Andrea Fulk (BM) 212.70.BOYS1. Thorn Devlin (Tam) 372.85, 2. Bill Shilko (Tam) 361.00, 3. Chase Alisauckas (Pot) 312.40, 4. Ethan Jennings (BM) 285.30, 5. Bill Frederick (Tam) 275.90, 6. Colin Rickard (BM) 271.65.