MOULTRIE – The Moose Moss Invitational helps Moss Farms Diving coaches get a feel for where the program is as it prepares for the approaching competitive season.
“This really was a good meet,” said Moss Farms Diving coach Tom Gimm. “It could’t have run any smoother and our athletes did great.
“We use this to see how we are doing.”
And he was not disappointed.
The meet, held Thursday through Sunday, drew 112 divers – including 31 Diving Tigers – and enabled the local athletes to see how they stand as they prepare for their next competition.
The Diving Tigers will travel to Huntersville, N.C., for the 2024 Carolina BIG DIVE, to be held March 14-17 at the Huntersville Family Fitness and Aquatics.
Moss Farms will then begin preparations in earnest for the USA Junior Region 3 Championships to be held May 3-4 at the University of Georgia.
Gimm said it was difficult to single out specific divers for their performances in the Moose Moss Invitational.
But Colquitt County has a rising international star in ElliReese Niday and she did not disappoint on her home boards, winning senior women’s 1-meter and 16-18 3-meter and platform.
She also excelled in synchro 3-meter and platform events.
She would normally compete in 12-13 girls.
“We think she is the best in the world,” Gimm said of Niday, who has already competed internationally and has been invited to another such event scheduled for May.
Gimm also called Ruby DeMott’s work “phenomenal.”
In the 11-and-under girls age group, she was first on 3-meter and platform and second on 1-meter.
Amelia Gregory was first on 3-meter and second on 1-meter and platform in 12-13 girls.
Brother Beck Gregory had two first-place finishes and was third on 1-meter in 14-15 boys.
He was diving up from his normal 12-13 age group.
Gimm was especially pleased with Austin Leigh Taylor’s first-place list on platform.
“She was outstanding up there,” he said.
In 16-18 girls Ruth Anne McCranie was solid on 1-meter and Jewel Hart performed well in four events.
Bo Bridges did a good job in the senior men’s 3-meter and Zechariah Ledl had three top-four finishes.