Date: Fri 14-Nov-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Becky-Crane-State-Diving-Title

Full Text:

Becky Crane Wins State Diving Title

BY KIM J. HARMON

BRANFORD -- First it was a school record.

Now it's a state championship.

For Newtown High School senior diver Becky Crane, the 1997 fall swim season

has been one of disorder and chaos ... with the pool opening late and the

diving board somehow being replaced incorrectly, rendering it illegal, and

long trips to Southern Connecticut State University and Yale University three

times a week to train.

But amidst it all, in spite of it all, Becky not only broke -- or, rather,

shattered -- a long-standing school record, but just this week earned herself

a CIAC Class L championship.

It was tough going, though, and came down to the final dive. Katelyn Cox of

Cheshire led Becky by three points and both were in line to do the same

two-and-a-half, but Becky hit hers a little bit better and came away with the

six-point win.

"(Katelyn) was really supposed to win," said Becky, "but she was kind of off.

I knew I could have dove better, myself. I was just trying to have a good meet

and do what I could do."

The state championship will go a long way towards easing any lingering pains

from her second-place finish at the South-West Conference championship a

couple weeks ago. There, Becky was in a duel with Lacey Coyle of Foran and

came away in second.

"There, I was on for the first four dives," Becky explained, "but then I

started concentrating more on Lacey than on myself. I had so much support from

everyone on the team, but I was just not focussed."

Becky will move on to the State Open meet this Friday ranked sixth overall.

This is a testament to her enormous improvement in the course of one year and

determination in spite of the chaos conspiring against her.

It started early on when construction delays kept the Nighthawks out of their

own pool, forcing them to travel, first, to Pomperaug and then to Seymour and

then to Masuk just to practice.

Then, when the pool finally opened about two weeks into the season, it was

discovered that the diving board, which had apparently been removed and reset

as the blocks were moved from one end of the pool to the other, was now six

inches too close to the water and, hence, illegal.

And so Becky, with fellow divers Brianna Littlejohn and Megan Lynch, could not

even practice with their team and had to travel to SCSU and Yale three times a

week to get in their training.

"It was tough," Becky admitted, "but I knew I could still do what I was

capable of doing."

And it earned her a state title.

Ryan Earns Seconds;

Team Is Third

Jaime Ryan has enough school records to earn her the distinction of being one

of the best female swimmers to ever swim at Newtown High School and now it is

time to grab some state championships.

But Jaime, who went into the CIAC Class L finals on Wednesday at Branford

ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles,

came back with a pair of second-place finishes.

In the 200, Jaime came in at 1:54.73, slightly less than two seconds behind

Sarah Bowman of Cheshire. In the 500, she came in at 5:06.06, less than a

second behind Tammie Repass of Fermi.

The Nighthawks, as a team, finished third with 267 points behind Cheshire

(16th straight championship) with 806 points and Branford with 357 points. The

Newtown 200- and 400-yard freestyle relay teams each finished second and each

about four seconds off the winning pace.