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Two freshmen and one sophomore are among six Orange County divers expected to compete at the CIF State championships Thursday at Clovis West High in Fresno.
Freshmen Dylan Jasso of La Habra and Charles Bentley of Capistrano Valley, along with University sophomore Ethan Mak, represent half of the county’s contingent that advanced to state from the CIF-SS qualifying meet on May 5.
Seniors Gianna Kenrick of Mater Dei and Braeden Valenzuela of San Juan Hills, along with junior Natalia San Jose of Mission Viejo, round out Orange County’s lineup.
San Jose and Kenrick finished third and fourth, respectively, at the six-dive, qualifying meet at Mt. SAC. Jasso secured the sixth and final spot for state.
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On the boys side, Valenzuela placed second at the qualifier to Kielan Phillips-Liu of Geffen Academy at UCLA.
Mak and Bentley took fifth and sixth, respectively.
For Thursday’s 9:30 a.m. girls final, Kenrick is seeded first based on her school-record score of 576.20 in winning the CIF-SS Division 1 title. She signed with Kentucky.
The boys final follows at 2 p.m.
Valenzuela is seeded second to Palisades Charter senior Jasper Nemeth based on his CIF-SS Division 2-winning score of 551.15. Valenzuela is committed to Columbia.
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