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MISSION VIEJO — San Juan Hills sophomore Taylor Fox stepped onto the springboards at the CIF-SS Division 1 girls diving finals Wednesday and didn’t wait long before taking flight.
“Because I know I’ve done it in practice,” she said, “so I just kind of do it (again).”
Fox kept those with cameras from getting too comfortable and turned all that practice into a history-making performance.
She delivered a consistent, 11-dive list to score 559.10 points at the Marguerite Aquatics Complex and claimed the first CIF diving title in school history.
Fox, who placed fourth as a freshman, outdistanced Santa Margarita’s Sheridan Smith (485.90) and Mater Dei’s Ella Roselli (472.75) — both club teammates on the Mission Viejo Nadadores — among others.
The degree of difficulty for Fox’s list was 24.40, which tied for fourth in the field. But her execution ranked first.
“I just wanted to have a consistent list,” she said. “I was pretty comfortable with all my dives.”
Fox overtook Roselli for the lead in the seventh round by scoring three 9.0s and a 9.5 on her reverse dive pike on the 1-meter springboard.
Fox said she also benefited from diving with teammates Avery Giese and Savannah Watts, who placed fifth and sixth, respectively.
“I was talking to Avery a lot,” she said. “It helps to have fun, too.”
Capistrano Valley junior Molly Brascia placed fourth with 452.95 points. She also qualified for CIF in golf in the fall.
Laguna Beach freshman diver Chase Shipp took second in the Division 1 boys final, which featured only nine competitors.
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Shipp, a former gymnast who has been diving three years, scored 486.95 points to place second to La Canada junior Maksymilian Sawoniewicz (543.00).
“I just like being in the air,” Shipp said of diving.
The section diving finals continue Thursday and Friday in Mission Viejo. The top-12 scoring boys and girls will compete May 4 at 10 a.m. at Marguerite for six spots for each division in the state meet.