Gannon maintains focus to win county crown
North Babylon's Kyle Gannon won the boys diving event during the Suffolk County Boys Championships State Qualification Meet. (February 13, 2010) Credit: Photo by Richard Slattery
Kyle Gannon was just focused on making states. He became a county champion along the way.
The Deer Park/ North Babylon diver, ranked just fourth in the regular season, surpassed regular season leader Ryan Savit of Half Hollow Hills to capture the diving crown with a score of 435.05.
Savit, who finished third with a score of 416.15, and Anthony Steffanelli of Sachem East, who finished second with a 427.8, also qualified for the state tournament. It is each of the divers first time qualifying.
"Honestly, the fourth place finish this year, I was disappointed in myself," said Gannon, a junior at North Babylon. "I was a little off, I wasn't focusing at that meet. So when I got here I made sure to focus on my approach and on every detail of the dive."
Gannon's tall, lanky body whipped off the board and into the water eight times before he finally surpassed Savit on the scoreboard. After that eighth dive, when he led Savit 315.9 to 303.45, Gannon held all the cards. And more importantly, he held his focus.
"I was just trying to focus on the approach, not really focus on other people watching me," he said. "Just on what I was doing."
Savit managed to chip away at the lead over the next few dives, reducing Gannon's edge to just seven points heading into the final dive. But Gannon scored 40.25 points, getting his total just out of Savit's and Steffanelli's reach to lock up the meet.
Coach Craig Mangino said that Gannon had been using video as a way to help evaluate himself, fine tuning each dive and studying its technical aspects.
"When he approaches his dive, he's been working on not twisting as much, coming in straight and getting a lot of height," Mangino said, adding that he was something a little extra in him the past few days.
"I could tell at the beginning of the meet, those first couple of dives, that he was confident and determined," he said. "He was the same way in practice yesterday. I could see it there too. He had a really determined look to him."
Savit played it graciously afterward, the sting of coming in third in the county cooled by earning his first trip to the state tournament.
"It's a great achievement," he said. "That was my goal at the beginning of the season, and we'll see how all three of us do at states."
