As tough as it had to be, Gateway senior Kevan Phillips remained humble while cracking a slight smile on the pool deck after his second consecutive WPIAL Class AAA boys' diving title yesterday at Pine-Richland High School.
"I just try to stay level-headed," said Phillips, who topped the nearest competitor by more than 100 points.
Phillips coasted to victory with 472.95 points, followed by teammate Stephen Gatti, a junior, with 367.60 points. Franklin Regional junior Roy Wyss was third with 348.75 points and Gateway sophomore Mehran Hedjazi grabbed the fourth spot, completing an unprecedented 1-2-4 finish for the Gators.
In the girls' competition, Bethel Park junior Lindsay Davis took top honors with 449.75 points. The top six finishers in the boys' and girls' divisions qualify for the PIAA championships March 11 at Penn State.
Placing three divers in the top four was sweet for Gateway coach Chuck Mohan. A 1968 graduate of Gateway, Mohan resurrected the diving program in 2000 after it had been on hiatus since 1973.
The boys' event had a controversy just minutes after the 11:45 a.m. start. Woodland Hills senior Dan Hornyak, who finished second in the WPIAL and seventh in the PIAA last season, was disqualified after the first dive when it was discovered his routine did not include a required, twisting dive in his first eight attempts.
Woodland Hills coach Frank Nelson, visibly shaken, said it was a clerical error on his part when he filled out forms last week stating which dives Hornyak would attempt.
"It was totally my fault, but I know that some other coaches had mistakes and changed them before the meet when the officials brought it to their attention, but they never let me know of the problem," Nelson said
The girls' event had no such drama, as Davis, who has battled knee problems the past year, led most of the way and finished with more than 18 points better than second-place finisher Heather Johnston (431.70), a Pine-Richland sophomore.
It was third-place finisher Anna Cerney, a Pine-Richland freshman who is deaf and scored 400.35 points, who was the talk of the meet.
First Published: February 15, 2004, 5:00 a.m.