Stifter is Champ in 3M
This past Saturday, Las Positas College was home to the 2026 3C2A NorCal Regional Diving Qualifier, the top 8 divers in both the 1M and 3M board will find their way into the 3C2A State Championships taking place in three weeks.
Coming out on top after six rounds of dives, was freshman Laina Stifter who was crowned champion of the 3M board. She won with the event by a total score of 245.55, just 5.4 points ahead of the second-place finisher from American River.
Stifter along with 25 other divers, dove in difficult conditions that included periods rain and heavy wind gusts.
With only two rounds left in the competition, Stifter found herself with an 11-point deficit. Then she climbed up the ladder and jumped to score her best dive of the meet, scoring 50.40 points on a forward 2.5 somersault pike, moving her to first place. Just .4 of a point ahead of the diver from American River after all dives in the fifth were completed.
It all came down to the sixth and final round. Stifter dove first with a forward 1.5 somersault twist earning her a score of 42 points. After the American River diver scored 37 points on her last dive, the win became official.
Earlier in the day in the 1M competition, Stifter finished with a total score of 242.95 which was good for a second-place finish, just behind the same diver from American River.
Nipping on the heals of the top two divers all day was sophomore Ainsley Wade, who scored 209.65 in the 3M and 217.55 in the 1M finishing in 3rd place in both events. She is now a two-time State Finalist, having qualified a year ago by wining both the 3M and 1M competition.
Joining Stifter and Wade in the State Finals is freshman Jayden Helm, who qualified in both the 1M and 3M events. Helm finished 9th in the 1M with a score of 171.8, which put her in the position of first alternate. As such, if she was to win a top 8 spot in the 3M competition she would be awarded a competing spot in the 1M at the State Finals. And that is exactly what she did. Placing sixth with a final score of 174.60 points, punching her ticket to the State Finals.
Other Hawks competing in the 1M board included Ariana Leyva who placed 15th, Maggie Wilmott 31st and Caroline Forde came out with a 34th place finish, while also coming away with a 24th place finish in the 3M competition.
