8 Area Divers to Compete in Zone D Meet

Eight divers from the Valley area will be competing today through Sunday in the U.S. Junior Olympic Zone D diving championships at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in Pasadena. The divers qualified by placing among the top 12 in one of eight recent regional championships.

With the exception of Mike Snyder of Reseda who competes for Gymnastic Olympica, all of the divers compete for Rose Bowl Aquatics under coaches Van Austin and Roland King.

Ricky Wood, 18, of Simi Valley, leads the Rose Bowl contingent and is a strong candidate for a top finish in the 16-18 age group. The top seven finishers in that age group in each event, the 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and platform, advance to the National Junior Olympic diving championships in Clayton, Mo., July 24-28.

Earlier this year, Wood, who already has qualified for the national meet, broke the Southern Section 4-A Division record with 605.05 points. Janelle Speriglio, 16, of Encino, and Suzie Durrough, 16, of Woodland Hills, also are competing in the 16-18 age group.

In the 13-and-under and 14-15 age groups, the top five finishers in each event earn a berth in the national meet. Adam Creassy, 14, of Encino, is the lone regional entrant in the 14-15 age group. The Dumais brothers of Ventura, Brice, 10, Troy, 11, and Justin, 12, round out the Valley entrants.

Another Valley-area diver, Arus Gulbadakian of Van Nuys, won the regional championship in the 13-and-under girls’ division but was denied entry in the Zone meet because she is not a U.S. citizen. Gulbadakian came to this country last fall from Soviet Armenia.

More than 150 divers from California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana will compete in the Zone D meet. Competition will begin each day at 9:30 a.m. and continues until about 6 p.m.