By amassing her highest post-season high-school score in what already has been an accomplished career, Washington-Liberty Generals standout diver Ellie Joyce recently won her third straight Liberty District championship.
The senior’s point total was 489.10 the night of Jan. 26 in the Yorktown High School pool, a wide margin ahead of runner-up Jocelyn Brooks of McLean with a 408.2 total.
Joyce’s previous postseason best in a high-school meet was her winning 483.7 total at last season’s 6D North Region championships, Joyce will attempt to win her third straight region title in coming days. She also won the 2021 Class 6 state crown and was a favorite to repeat last winter, but missed the meet with COVID.
Joyce’s winning district total this season was significantly higher than last year’s 426 score.
“I hit my first dive, then I continued to dive well for the rest of the meet and I hit my other dives,” Joyce said.
This past summer, Joyce, who will dive at the University of North Carolina, had second- and third-place finishes at the girls USA Diving Junior National Championships in Midland, Texas, and won multiple meets for Dominion Hills in Northern Virginia Swimming League meets.
Also at the Jan. 26 girls district meet, Washington-Liberty’s Erin Willis placed third (287.55), Yorktown’s Francesca Pereira was fourth (271.10), W-L’s Riley Shelton fifth (225.55) and Yorktown’s Meredith Lawler and Elise Maher were sixth and seventh, respectively.
Wakefield High’s top diver was Charlotte Oif in ninth, followed by W-L’s Lea Bajadzievski in 10th.
In the district boys meet, Yorktown senior Rayce Winn repeated his runner-up finish with a 461.75 score, behind winner Mateo Vasiliadis of Langley at 474.45.
Yorktown’s Porter Parish placed fifth (294.35), Washington-Liberty’s Sean Memon was sixth and Wakefield’s Max Cassett 12th.
Winn and others now advance to the region meet, where Winn placed fifth last season.