Tamaqua junior Thorn Devlin had every reason to look forward to this season's Schuylkill League Diving Championships.

The second-year participant in the sport has improved immensely and took to the diving boards Wednesday for his practice session.As the top seed in the event, his expectations were high as well as his practice bounces on the one-meter springboard. While gaining spring on his second bounce, a slight miscalculation spelled certain trouble for the athlete, as he landed a few inches to the right of his planned landing spot."I knew when I went to bounce the second or third time that it didn't feel right and it sort of felt like I was trying to bounce on cement," Devlin said. "I was going through my warm-up and I was bouncing, doing my three bounces, and my right foot slipped off and I came down on the left side of my left leg and my left wrist."As a result, he was unable to participate in the league championships, thwarting him of his near-certain medal in the event."I'm bummed out because I didn't do that well last year, in my first year trying the sport, but still, I was hoping to get a podium medal," he said. "Then this season, after putting in all that hard work, not being able to do it is frustrating."Devlin's teammate, Emma Rago, on the other hand, did participate in the league diving championships and finished ten points out of medaling, as her 271 points was bested by Emma Barrett of Blue Mountain's 281.15 points for third place.Tamaqua swimming/diving coach, Al Bostford was still pleased with the efforts."As she develops as a diver, we're becoming more and more pleased with her results," the first-year coach said. "As a junior, she is progressing and today I thought she did well. There was one dive that she came up a little short on, but aside from that, we're making progress."While Devlin was upset to sit out the league meet, he'll still have a chance for postseason success in a couple of weeks at the District 11 Diving Championships.Wednesday was the first time that Devlin was back at practice after a week-long layoff, which he spent competing in a national motocross event in South Carolina. Coming off last year, where he was ranked 17th in the nation at year's end, he hopes to continue his focus in that spectrum of athletics, as well.SIAL DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPSFINAL RESULTSBOYS1. Lyle Luckenbill (BM) 349.40, 2. Kyle Brennan (Pot) 325.00, 3. Josh Sham (BM) 269.00, 4. Ed Hossler (Pot) 237.20.GIRLS1. Gabrielle Hammer (Pot) 358.00, 2. Rachael Setlock (Pot) 293.85, 3. Emma Barrett (BM) 281.15, 4. Emma Rago (Tam) 271.00.