Freedom swim coach Alexa Kutch was second only to Patriot diving coach Mark Parry in praising divers Hayden Taylor, Cody Smith, and John Lowey after the trio scored important points during Freedom’s meet against Whitehall on Jan. 3 at Freedom.

“I would give a big shoutout to our divers,” Kutch said after the meet won by the Patriot girls and Whitehall boys.

Last week’s meet was a first for Lowey, a senior, whose score was 113.55.

“Seeing him do very well in his first meet is really exciting,” said Coach Parry, “not just for me but for Hayden and Cody.”

Parry added that Lowey has the mindset a diver needs: one of remaining positive no matter the outcome of a particular dive.

Smith is a sophomore who is back on the diving board for a second season and scored 182.20.

Regarding the height Smith gets off the board, Parry said, “That is something new this year. We worked on riding the board all the way up, getting that height, which allows him to do a lot of his harder dives more easily. It does come with a certain challenge because there are times he overthrows, but we’re reeling that back in.”

Taylor is also a sophomore and last year’s third-place district finalist.

“I’m very pleased with where she’s at; however, I do still want to push her a little bit further, as the dive format has changed to 11 dives rather than six, to try to push those 11 dives to getting those same consistencies as the six she is doing here.”

Taylor scored 206.05 at the Whitehall meet with her reverse pike earning the highest points of the night.

“That is her favorite dive to do. It always has been, and that’s one of her cleanest dives,” said Parry. “To score 40 points on a degree of difficulty of 1.5 (at districts) is incredible. That was the dive that got her third place in districts.”

In addition to scores, team camaraderie is extremely important to the Patriots.

“From day one, I drove home the fact that this team is a family and not just friends. When we’re diving, we cheer for each other and encourage the other divers no matter the skill level,” Parry said. “I am liking what I’m seeing with all the divers.”