Posts tagged Rafael Quintero
Junior Nationals
Sep 11th
YCF came out strong after competing in our first JO National Championships the first week of August in Knoxville. In overall team standings we finished seventh and we had several standout performances! Special congratulations to our two National Champions Wallace Layland and Rafael Quintero. Wallace first won the womens 14-18 platform synchronized title and then followed it up the next night with a 14-15 girls platform championship! With Wally’s victory she qualified for the US National Team and will compete at Jr Pan American Games in Coloumbia in September. In his first apperance at JO Nationals, Rafael easily won the boys 16-18 mens’ platform compeition. Rafa will also be competing in the Pan Am Games for Puerto Rico. We also had great performances by Mya Kreager and Grace Cable who finaled in all 3 events in their age group and Grayson Kim and Maggie Merrimen who also were finalists. Overall we did a great job! Congratulations to everyone.
Divers of the Month
Sep 11th
Rafael Quintero and Wallly Layland
17 year old Rafael Quintero came to YCF diving this summer from Puerto Rico in hopes to improve his diving and gain attention from college diving coaches to earn a scholarship. He arrived as a good springboard diver however he did not like the platform event as much. After training with the JO 5 national groups this summer Rafa began dominating his competition. He learned 8 new dives off the 10 meter as well as improving upon his springboard dives. The highlight of Rafa’s summer came at the JO Nationals where he claimed the boys 16-18 platform championship title. Rafa will be traveling to Columbia this month to represent Puerto Rico at the Pan-American Games. In the fall, Rafa has several recruiting trips to vairous colleges who are offering diving scholarships. Ironically after a summer with YCF diving, platform became Rafa’s best and favorite event.
Wallace Layland came into JO Nationals as motivated and determined as ever to take home the national title on the girls 14-15 platform event. In her first competition of the meet, Wally paired with Gracia to win the girls synchronized platform national title. During the competition, Wally pulled her tricep muscle making it difficult for her to hold her hands over her head when entering in the water. With her individual platform event the next day, Wally could barely warm-up for her event due to the pain from her arm. Through her determination, Wally was able to gut it out and perform one of the most impressive performances at JO Nationals. She not only took home the national title of the platform qualifying her to the USA National team that will compete at the Junior Pan-Am Games and a spot in the 2012 Olympic Trials. Unselfishly, Wally competed in the 3 meter event to a 4th place finish in order to help our team’s standings. Congratulations and best of luck to both Wally and Rafa.
Divers of the Month:
Rafael Quintero and Wallly Layland
Wally and Rafa at Junior Nationals
17 year old Rafael Quintero came to YCF diving this summer from Puerto Rico in hopes to improve his diving and gain attention from college diving coaches to earn a scholarship. He arrived as a good springboard diver however he did not like the platform event as much. After training with the JO 5 national groups this summer Rafa began dominating his competition. He learned 8 new dives off the 10 meter as well as improving upon his springboard dives. The highlight of Rafa’s summer came at the JO Nationals where he claimed the boys 16-18 platform championship title. Rafa will be traveling to Columbia this month to represent Puerto Rico at the Pan-American Games. In the fall, Rafa has several recruiting trips to vairous colleges who are offering diving scholarships. Ironically after a summer with YCF diving, platform became Rafa’s best and favorite event.
Wallace Layland came into JO Nationals as motivated and determined as ever to take home the national title on the girls 14-15 platform event. In her first competition of the meet, Wally paired with Gracia to win the girls synchronized platform national title. During the competition, Wally pulled her tricep muscle making it difficult for her to hold her hands over her head when entering in the water. With her individual platform event the next day, Wally could barely warm-up for her event due to the pain from her arm. Through her determination, Wally was able to gut it out and perform one of the most impressive performances at JO Nationals. She not only took home the national title of the platform qualifying her to the USA National team that will compete at the Junior Pan-Am Games and a spot in the 2012 Olympic Trials. Unselfishly, Wally competed in the 3 meter event to a 4th place finish in order to help our team’s standings. Congratulations and best of luck to both Wally and Rafa.
2011 USA Diving Summer Junior Zone D Championships
Jul 20th
As most of you know last week we had our Zones Championships in Moultrie, GA which is the qualifying meet for Junior Olympic Nationals. The top 6 finishers on each event qualify for Junior Nationals while 7-12 qualify for the Age Group Championships. Our team had several great performances resulting in 10 divers quaifying for JO Nationals and 3 qualifying for Age Groups. As a team YCF Diving finished 2nd place and will be one of the biggest teams going into nationals! It was a phenomal week for us! Our kids have put in a lot of hard work and made a lot sacrifices to get to this point. I’m proud of them and I look forward to seeing them all flourish at Nationals. Here’s the list of divers who qualified from our team:
Age Group Championships Qualifiers
Name Events
Jack Dowd 1m,3m, platform
Abby Howell 1m
Sarah Frongoul Platform
Junior National Qualifers Age Group Championships Qualifiers
Name Events
Maggie Merriman 1m,3m & platform (1st time qualifer)
Grace Cable 1m ,3m & platform (1st time qualifer)
Grayson Kim 1m,3m & platform (1st time qualifer)
Emma Kraeger 1m,3m & platform (1st time qualifer)
Mya Kraeger 1m,3m & platform
Wallace Layland 1m,3m & platform
Abby Howell 3m & platform
Riley Knox 1m & 3m
Joey Dowd 1m,3m & platform
Rafael Quintero 1m,3m & platform (1st time qualifer)
Team Standing
YCF Diving 2nd Place
WAY TO GO EVERYONE!!
2011 USA Diving Age Group and Junior Nationals
Jul 10th
Beginning July 29th, Coach Mark and Coach Courtney will be traveling to Knoxville, Tennessee for the Championship season finale, Age Group and Junior Nationals. The meet will begin with all Age Group National Qualifiers competingJuly 29th – 31st and will finish up with all Junior National Qualifiers competing until August 6th. The following divers will be taking the trip to Knoxville. Please wish them good luck and safe travels!
