Head coach Frank Betkowski sent the following report from The Lawrenceville School on the MAPL Diving Championships.

For the second year in a row, Alex Van Ess ’24, with a total of 239.90 points in six dives, is the Mid-Atlantic Prep League boys' diving champion. Coupled with a third place showing by rookie teammate Bruce Joyner ’25 (144.00), Van Ess led the Blue Storm to the league title, edging rival Hill School, 36-32.

In the girls' meet, Mercersburg Academy divers also brought home first place honors.  Blue Storm divers took three of the top four spots to best host Lawrenceville, 57-54. Luntu Radebe ’25 (226.05) was runner-up, up one spot from last year’s meet. She was followed by newcomers Solie Stenger ’25 (180.65) and Avery Liu ’25 (178.05). Anouk Wandeler ’26 (141.45) took ninth place to round out the scoring for the Blue Storm.

Coach Betkowski commented, “I am glad that both the girls and boys were able to come out on top. Though the meet was termed an invitational, I am proud to proclaim the Blue Storm divers MAPL champs!” Betkowski added, “This meet is a good lead up to ‘Easterns,’ where a strong showing is our primary goal all season long.”

The divers will again be in action next week at the annual Hill School Invitational, the team’s first championship format (11-dive) meet of the season and a fitting warmup for the Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships (“Easterns”) on February 16 and 17. The meet at Hill begins at 1 pm on Saturday, February 10.