Keith Hart could tell the kind of talent Eric Crowley possessed, and he knew he couldn't pass it up.

Crowley, a sophomore at Mars, was in his first year as a diver and needed a coach.

Hart coaches the Pine North Diving Club at Pine-Richland, which included Crowley's friend, Jesse Marweg.

Crowley and Marweg had competed for years as gymnasts, but a back injury left Crowley looking for another sport.

On Friday, Crowley ruled it as he captured the WPIAL Class AA Diving Championships at Pine-Richland High School.

Crowley, a junior, finished with a score of 435.25, ahead of the 398.25 by Marweg and was more than 110 points ahead of third-place finisher Justin Duncan of South Park (323.80).

Last season, Marweg was fifth in the WPIAL as a freshman and went on to place sixth at the PIAA Championships.

"When Eric came into the first practice, I said to Mr. Marweg and Jesse, 'Are you sure you want me to coach Eric?," Hart said.

"I've seen the talent from the get-go," he added.

In his first season of competition, Crowley recorded the best total of all WPIAL divers with a 301.0 late in the regular season.

At the WPIAL finals, Crowley bested 13 other competitors, which each had five divers in the first round.

"I knew that I had to hit all of my dives in the first round to help my confidence and carry the momentum," said Crowley, 17, of Valencia.

After two were eliminated, the remaining 12 then had three more dives. The top 10 advanced to the final round.

"Me and Jesse, we were still very close at the end," said Crowley. "I tried to stay confident and do the best I could," Crowley said.

"After the 10

th

dive, we were only 10 points apart, so it was really close," he added.

Crowley knew if he could land his two dives with the highest degree of difficulty during the meet - the front-2-and-a-half and the inward double - he would do well.

Since this was Crowley's first season, he never put a lot of pressure on himself.

"I wasn't too nervous," said Crowley. "I had done a few invitationals and done well and prepared for practice.

"I didn't think it sank in until they called everyone up for the awards. It didn't sink in until then."

Despite the fact he was going up against Marweg wasn't going to put a strain on the friendship.

"We were encouraging each other," said Crowley. "It didn't matter if I won or if he won. We're good friends and I'd be just as happy if he won it."

Having spent the summer down at the University of Pittsburgh for camps, Crowley joined Hart and Marweg at practice and it didn't take Hart, who is in his 21

st

and final season at coaching, long to help refine Crowley.

"Basically, it's nice to work with kids. You can give them more individual instruction and get them more fine-tuned," said Hart. "You can teach them the art of the diving board. You knew he had the talent in the air.

"After working with Eric for a couple of weeks, I made a few adjustments. Diving is so technical. Instead of being a muscle diver, he just became a diver," Hart added.