Eric CrowleyIn his two years of diving for Mars, the senior has won two WPIAL titles

Eric Crowley has been diving for two years.

And he's got two WPIAL titles to show for it.

The Mars senior blew away the competition for the second consecutive year, finishing the Class AA meet with a final score of 477.45, last Friday at Pine-Richland High School.

South Park's Justin Duncan was a distant second at 388.25.

"It was the best meet I've ever had," said Crowley.

Last year, Crowley outscored his nearest opponent, Pine-Richland's Jesse Marweg, 435.25 to 398.25.

Crowley trains at the University of Pittsburgh's Trees Pool an average of three times per week.

"Some of the best (high school) divers from this area have come through here," said Julian Krug, who is in his 27th year with the Panthers.

That group includes Crowley, who will now focus on the PIAA championships, which will be held March 18 at Bucknell University in Lewisburg.

After finishing second in the state last year, Crowley didn't take a break to reflect on his accomplishments.

"I pretty much stayed right with my practice routine," he said. "I dive in a lot of Junior Olympic events, and some of those are held in the spring.

"I qualified for Eastern Nationals last year, but was unable to get to that meet."

Like many divers, Crowley was a gymnast before taking to the water.

"The success I've had in diving, most of it comes from gymnastics," he said. "I've always enjoyed doing flips. My favorite part of gymnastics was always the floor exercise because that's when you do a lot of flips.

"But even back then, I'd find myself messing around on the diving board," Crowley added.

"Eric is tremendously physically talented," said Krug. "He could go very far at the collegiate level, too. But he does have a bit of trouble with dives where he lands on his head. And I think that comes from gymnastics, because you obviously don't want to land on your head there."

Crowley already has left his mark on a sport that he picked up just two years ago.

But he has one competition left to reach a point that even some great high school divers never realize: a state championship.

"He could win at states," said Krug. "But he's going to have to dive very well.

"There are a lot of good divers from the eastern side of the state. Plus, you never know who's going to come out of the woodwork."