The Los Alamitos High School Boys and Girls Diving teams, both coached by Shane Butler, came away with championships after the Sunset League Diving finals held at Marina High School in early May.
The Girls Varsity team, led by junior Mary Sojian, took an early lead after two rounds and never looked back as they finished as the top team. Sojian won the Girls Individual Championship and was named Female Diver of the Year. Helping her score points for Los Al were junior Annie Bliss and senior Charizma Orlino.
The Boys squad needed good scores in the final dive by all its divers in a verfy tight competition. Sophomore Shane Butler led all divers through every round but needed points from fellow sophomore Jeffrey Hartwyk and senior Andres Osborn to secure their Championship. Butler won both the Boys Individual Championship and Male Diver of the Year awards.
At the CIF Southern Section Division 1 Diving Championships on May 14-15. Sojian finished in 11th place with 410.30 points. Annie Bliss was 19th #1 seeds. On the Boys side Butler finished in third pace with a score of 519.00, good enough to qualify for the state meet but he unfortunately hit his knuckle on the diving board on one dive, breaking a bone . After a medical examination it was determined it would be best to skip the state meet to let it heal properly. .
