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Divers Rhodaberger, Rocco earn PIAA berths

Butler's John Rhodaberger and Seneca Valley's Diana Rocco will both head to the PIAA Class AAA diving championships next month after their performance on Saturday at Pine-Richland High School.

Rhodaberger, a senior, placed third in the boys' meet with a score of 391.95 behind Latrobe's Charlie Hauser and district champion Ryan Koter (449.70) of Franklin Regional.

Rocco, a junior, also placed third in the girls' competition with a score 396.95.

That scored was bettered by just two divers — Franklin Regional's Samantha Pickens and WPIAL champion Amanda Lohman of Upper St. Clair, who managed a score of 499.75.

Other area divers included Butler's Heath Calhoun (ninth) and Pat Kaiser (17th) and SV's Mike Leroy (19th) and Zach Fiscus (21st) in the boys' meet and Butler's Brittney Grenet (19th) and SV's Erin Polite (16th) on the girls' side.

Mars junior Luke Selker finished with a 2-2 record at the WPIAL Class AA championships, Saturday at Charleroi High School.The 125-pound grappler opened with a 4-2, first-round win over Derry's Ben Myers, but lost a 5-3 decision to Carlynton's Dean Baker in the quarterfinals.Selker then staved off elimination by dominating Jefferson-Morgan's Nathan Elkins, 16-4 in the first round of consolation, but was pinned by Burgettstown's Zach Schlinski in 1:50 in the ensuing round.Summit Academy's Patsy Dicesare was dropped to the 130-pound consolation round after a 4-1, first-round loss to Derry's Bobby Lyons.Dicesare then knocked off South Park's Nick Kaczka, 3-2 before losing to Elderton's Levi Smeltzer via a pin.The Knights also had Kadeem Brackett (215 pounds) and Tevon Henry (285 pounds) lose in the tournament.

Butler's Casey Piper, Fred Pinto, Mason McLaughlin and Doug Moran combined to run a school indoor record time of 1 minute, 31.64 seconds in the 4x200 meter relay Saturday during the Pennsylvania State Indoor Championships at Penn State University.The Golden Tornado's Mike Martin placed eighth in the triple jump with a 44-9.Other top performances for Butler included Piper running the 200 meters in 23.19, Moran posting a time of 7.14 seconds in the 60-meter semifinals and Andy Strutt soaring 13 feet, six inches in the pole vault.

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