STOCKTON, Calif. – Sophomore Stella Cassidy compiled a total of 325.20 points, good for fourth place at the Sac-Joaquin Section girls' diving championships held at St. Mary's High School's Cortopassi Aquatics Center Monday. The finish also earns her one of the section's qualifying berths to the CIF State Championship, held at the Clovis Olympic Swim Complex on Thursday, May 14.

Oak Ridge held the top two spots on the final leaderboard, with Mimi Poort claiming the section title at 396.20 points. Teammate Sophia Gatlin outdueled St. Mary's Francesca Avansino by a 339.80-330.70 margin for the runner-up finish, with Cassidy overtaking teammate Piper Bates for fourth. Bates scored 319.25 to keep ahead of Violet Watts of Davis (318.05).

The SJS championship meet features an 11-dive program, broken up into three parts. All divers in a given division compete for three rounds, after which the field is reduced to the top 32. After five rounds, the number of divers is reduced to 20 semifinalists, then the field shrinks to 16 finalists after the eighth round. The finalists score points toward the overall SJS swimming and diving championship later this week, with the top four finishers advancing to the state championship.

Entering the finals, Cassidy stood outside the race for the four state berths with a total of 218.50, with Bates in the hunt at 240.70. Then Cassidy nailed two of her best dives of the day in the final three rounds to move into the top four. On her ninth dive, she picked up 40.70 points on a 5132D, or forward 1.5 somersaults with a full twist, freestyle position. Two rounds later, Cassidy stuck her toughest dive – a 105C (forward 2.5, tuck) and its 2.4 degree of difficulty – to the tune of 40.80 points.

Bates scored at least 31 points on each of her first four dives, including 37.40 on her 403C (inward 1.5, tuck) in the second round. She also picked up another 35.20 on her scoresheet to open the semifinals on a 201B (back dive), while the 60.70 on her final two rounds combined allowed her to stay ahead of both Watts and sixth-place Audrey Ramage (307.50).

Based on their final places, Cassidy and Bates provided their fellow Troubie swimmers with 29 team points. With a 1-2 exacta finish, Poort and Gatlin boost the Trojans with 37 points. St. Mary's 3-7-8 gives the Rams a 39-point head start. The swim championships run Wednesday through Friday at the Elk Grove Aquatics Center.

Among Monday's junior varsity field, Troubie freshmen Audrey Solander and Sadie Favreau placed fourth and fifth, respectively, with a mere eight points separating them. Solander totaled 216.40, getting 53.15 from her third and fourth dives: a 24.75 on a 401B (inward dive, pike) and 26.40 on a 402C (inward somersault, tuck). She followed with another push of 23.80 on a 5121D (forward 1.0 with half twist, free) in the fifth round. Favreau also enjoyed a strong 402C in the fourth round, amassing 26.40, and also finished strong with 20-plus points on her 102B (forward 1.0, pike) and 5121D to close out her season.

In just her third career championship format, Favreau's 208.40 represents a massive improvement over her 156.75 at the Sierra Foothill League championships and the 159.60 at the Bronco-Troubie Invite on April 18. Solander's total also marks a new personal record, eclipsing the 211.30 she compiled at the league championships.

The state diving championships take place at Clovis High on Thursday, May 14. The girls compete at 9:30 a.m. with the boys following at 2 p.m. Gates open at 7:45 a.m., with tickets available via GoFan: https://gofan.co/event/3917423?schoolId=CIF