EMMAUS - Midway through the ninth round of dives at the District 11 Class 2A championships on Saturday at Emmaus High School's Natatorium, the power shut down temporarily due to the brief tornado-like weather sweeping through the area.

That didn't stop the area's elite from continuing on with their expertise on the springboard, however, as a brief recharge session allowed the divers an extra 40-minute break. When the competition resumed, Tamaqua sophomore Billy Shilko ended up taking third place and nabbing a district bronze medal.When asked if the outage disrupted any flow or momentum, Tamaqua coach Mariann Shilko said, "Not at all, because the kids all got an extra warm-up session before getting back into it, so it was nice."Salisbury's Tyler Keller and Allentown Central Catholic's Sam Stringer finished first and second, respectively, to earn the district's only two berths at the PIAA State Championship Meet."I feel like I could've done better," Billy Shilko said. "I'll definitely put in more work next season. I guess I can't complain too much after last week."Shilko bested the field in the Schuylkill League Diving Championship a week ago, and attempted to ride that momentum through to a strong finish at districts.Admitting the judges were a little different at this level than at the league meet, the constant perfectionist came away with some let downs."As the meet moved along, I was watching the overall standings and trying to adjust the slightest little bit to make the next dive just that much better," Shilko said. "I just wish I could have done better today."Two other Blue Raiders joined Shilko at districts - sophomore Billy Fredericks finished fifth, while senior Dalton Adams finished seventh."There were times throughout today where we could ask each other about a certain dive or give each other advice at certain points," Adams said. "It's also nice to have teammates there to pick each other up and encourage each other."After sweeping the top three spots a week ago at the Schuylkill League championships, the Raiders couldn't match that success on Saturday."It was tough today," coach Shilko said. "We came in here thinking we had a chance at doing better. But the only 11-dive meets we had all year were leagues and then here. So the kids aren't really used to that format."Overall, there were positives and negatives, according to coach Shilko."It was slightly disappointing not to see Billy (Shilko) get second," the coach said. "Billy Fredericks dove really well and surprised us with his performance. To me, the season was a success with two sophomores and a senior. So I thought we did well and represented the team and the program well throughout."LONG DAY ... The meet combines the 2A and 3A competitors into one big meet, which meant 23 total divers with 11 dives each. There are breaks after the fifth and eighth rounds. The recipe calls for a long afternoon, requiring some mental endurance on the part of everyone involved.OTHER WINNERS ... The Class 3A diving championships were won by Nazareth's Steven Stasolla and Parkland's Lexi Lehman. The Class 2A girls champ was Allentown Central Catholic's Jamilie Atiyeh.DISTRICT 11 AA DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPSBoys Results1. Tyler Keller (Salisbury) 457.45; 2. Sam Stringer (ACC) 324.55; 3. Billy Shilko (Tamaqua) 315.20; 4. Luke Eberwein (ACC) 305.80; 5. Billy Frederick (Tamaqua) 303.95; 6. Ryan Brooks (Blue Mountain) 258.25; 7. Dalton Adams (Tamaqua) 258.25; 8. Zach Zimmerman (North Schuylkill) 63.10 (DQ).