Up against 23 other divers, Paula Mazzarino, 20, sophomore, competed in the regionals diving competition on Friday, April 13 at EC to qualify for the state championship.

Placing 20 out of 24, Mazzarino was unable to qualify for the state championship, but she was able to pull of an overall good meet with the support from her teammates and her coaches.

“This is my first year diving and my goal is always to not come in last,” Mazzarino said.

Corey Stanbury, coach, had seen the tremendous improvements from Mazzarino throughout the season and he couldn’t be happier for her.

“For someone who didn’t try out be a diver, she did a really good job,” Stanbury said.

With numerous hours put into training all season for this meet, she was sad to see it come to an end.

“Honestly, nothing beats the feeling of when you’re in the air about to fall into the pool,” Mazzarino said. “It’s so much fun, it’s like flying.”

Mazzarino scored a total of 96.00 points with the inward dive.

“This whole week she really worked hard to get prepared for the diving championship,” Shanese Douglas said.

Mazzarino was the only one from EC to compete in the diving competition.

“Paula was the only one representing EC and she did a pretty good job,” Stanbury said. “She improved a lot.”

Now that the diving season is over, Stanbury is looking forward to the conference championships coming up this week.

“This will be the turn of the all the swimmers to qualify,” Stanbury said.