(Chelsea Update would like to congratulate the Bulldog divers and dive coach Eric Burris for their outstanding season. And, also, a thank you to Coach Burris for the information in this story.)
On March 7, the Chelsea Bulldog divers of Jacob Burris, Joe Smith and Jordan Smith used their regional qualifying experience from earlier in the week to help the Chelsea men’s swim and dive team to a second place finish at the MHSAA swim and dive state finals last weekend.
The trio started the day with one simple goal of making the top 16, which allows for individuals to earn points for their respective teams on Saturday.
Freshman Jordan Smith was up to that task as the talented freshman placed 15th heading into the finals. “Jordan has been a steady diver all year and this weekend he did not disappoint. We talked about this being a learning experience from a freshman prospective and making it to the state meet was outstanding. Just go have some fun and see what could happen,” said diving coach Eric Burris.
Jordan finished Friday night’s diving prelims sitting in 15th position and was the only freshman diver to make the finals this year.
Joe Smith had bigger goals for the prelims. After a strong regional performance, he was poised for a top three finish.
“All year long we knew how important diving would be to the success of the team with Joe being a key part of that success. He was fantastic in prelims and positioned himself in third place,” Burris said, adding, “Joe has been consistent all year and continued that in prelims.”
Jacob Burris had his eye on the big prize of being state champ after his performance at regionals last Tuesday. “Our regional meet was one of the toughest in the state as the current defending state champion Henry Swett of Marshall took part, along with division 2 move down of Jared Gregory of St. John’s,” Burris said. “Jake missed one dive on Tuesday and knew if he hit that at state meet he could give both divers a good run and possibly win.”
Both were consistent in the prelims and were sitting in second and third respectively, going into the finals on Saturday.
Saturday did not disappoint as all Chelsea divers brought their best for the finals.
Jordan Smith finished in 15th place with a personal best 11-dive total of 328.40 points. “Jordan positioned himself well on Friday, was a little nervous in the finals on Saturday, but finished strong. Reaching a personal best at state meet is very hard to do and I’m very proud of Jordan. He deserved to have a strong finish in the state to prove to everyone that he belongs at this level. I look forward to what Jordan will bring to the pool for the next three years,” Burris said.
Joe Smith finished strong with his final three dives with a point total of 421. He finished as state runner-up, along with All-State status.
He finished just a point shy of his 11-dive personal best. “Joe finished with great confidence and really used his state meet experience from last year were he finished 9th, just out of All-State status (top 8 divers are considered All-State). His goal was to be All-State this year and worked toward that goal all season. I’m very happy with how Joe performed throughout the season and especially today at the highest level when the team needed it the most.”
Jacob Burris nailed his final and favorite dive to finish as Chelsea High School’s first diving state champion with 452.05 points.
“Jacob worked really hard for the past year. He was disappointed at last year’s state meet finishing in 18th place but learned from that experience. He used it as his motivation for the year to become a more consistent diver. I’m very proud of how Jacob handled the season. His commitment to excellence on the board and talent really shined this past weekend,” said his glowing father and Diving Coach Eric Burris. Jacob also earned the distinction of “Diver of the Year.”
“I’ve been coaching diving for 24 years and on the boy’s side my highest finisher at state meet was 4th place, to have a state champion and runner up in the same year is a tremendous accomplishment. To have my son as my first state champ is an overwhelming fantastic feeling,” the coach said.
