Laguna Hills Freshman Makes Good Impression

IRVINE — Laguna Hills’ freshman Robbie Quinn showed the high school diving world what it has to look forward to for the next three years by winning the Southern Section Division II diving title and setting a meet record with score of 556.80 Friday at the Heritage Aquatic Complex.

Quinn, whose score broke the previous record of 538.60, set by Sonora’s Aaron Jenkins in 1995, set the stage on his first dive off the three-meter board, earning two 9.0s on his forward pike.

From that point on, Quinn remained solid, with only one difficult dive, a back 2 1/2 somersault in tuck position, earning him a score below 6.0. His highest score came in the 10th round, as he performed one of the most difficult dives of the competition, an inward 2 1/2 somersault in pike position, averaging better than a 7.0.

“I was really prepared today,” said Quinn, who hopes to compete in the 2000 Olympics. “I thought about every dive beforehand and knew exactly what I was going to do. This feels great.”

The 15-year-old defeated Aliso Niguel seniors’ Lee Brennan and Robert Spach, the defending section champion. Brennan finished second with 529.80 and Spach third, with 492.95.

“I’m sad I couldn’t get the title again,” Spach said. “But [Quinn] earned it. He’s a really good diver.”

No one else came near the top-three finishers, with Mitch McQuillan of Chino Hills Don Lugo finishing 80 points behind Spach in fourth place.

Brennan, who is coached by Curt Wilson, also Quinn’s coach, recorded the highest score on a single dive in the competition on his penultimate dive. Brennan performed a near-perfect forward 1 1/2 somersault, three twist, free off the three-meter board, earning an average score of 8.0, on a dive with a 2.9 degree of difficulty.

In the girls’ Division II competition, Troy’s Erica Fleming successfully defended her title, scoring 493.25.

Fleming, 17, came out confident and relaxed in her final high school diving competition. The senior, who will dive for Fresno State next year, nailed all her dives except one, a reverse 1 1/2 somersault in pike position, which she averaged a 4.0.

“It was a new dive,” Fleming said. “But everything else was pretty solid today. I wasn’t worried about the competition . I was just out to have fun today since it was my last year.”

Fleming, a former gymnast who has only been diving 2 1/2 years, defeated her closest competition, Crescenta Valley’s Kasey Reinhard by 21 points.

Laguna Hills’ Emily Tanaka finished fourth overall (425.05), behind Trish Malatesta of Glendora St. Lucy’s (451.45).