Orono diver Amanda Gammisch’s total score of 204.05 points in the 1-meter dive was good enough for second place in the Red Riots’ swim meet against Bangor last week.
It was also good for an Orono school record.
Gammisch’s score breaks the 196.35 mark set in 1993 by Casey Watts.
Orono coach Gary Theriault said he has been expecting Gammisch to break the record for the past few years but she has lacked the confidence to do it.
A shortage of confidence may not be a problem for Gammisch anymore.
“She came over to me with a big grin and there was a spark,” Theriault said. “She had a different demeanor. Her back was a little straighter.”
It may have also helped that Gammisch was diving against Bangor’s Brooke Hayes, last season’s Maine Swimming League Class A Diver of the Year. Hayes just topped Gammisch with a total score of 206.25.
“Maybe this will help her take a step up the scale,” Theriault said.
Gammisch, a senior in her fourth year of diving for the Riots, is no stranger to success on the board – she has finished in the top six at the Class B state meet for the past three years.
The accomplished diver also competes in the stroke events, swimming the 100 breaststroke and 50 and 100 freestyle. Theriault said Gammisch’s ability is more evident in diving, but she is close to qualifying for states in the breaststroke.
“She could be a better swimmer if she didn’t dive, but a team like ours has small numbers,” Theriault said.
Heather Babcock, a 1997 Brewer High School graduate and walk-on swimmer at the University of Miami, has earned a scholarship to swim for the Hurricanes.
Babcock, who is from Glenburn, competes in the freestyle events and swims the freestyle leg of Miami’s 400-yard medley relay.
Babcock swam for the Bangor-area Hurricane Swim Club, where her father, Tim, is the coach.
Miami, which competes in the Big East, is 6-5. The team finished 15th at last season’s NCAA championships.
Husson College assistant baseball coach and sports fellow John Winkin will speak at a Columbus, Ohio, clinic for high school baseball coaches in February.
Winkin will be involved in two sessions of the three-day clinic, which is sponsored by the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association.
On Thursday, Feb. 12, Winkin will host a clinic called “Indoor Drills for Infielders, Outfielders and Catchers.” The next day he discuss how to organize indoor baseball practices.
Former Cleveland Indian outfielder-designated hitter Joe Charboneau, former Oklahoma State University coach Gary Ward, and American League umpire Larry Barnett will also speak at the clinic.
Continuing Husson’s involvement with high school sports, the college’s Center for Family Business will host a Feb. 27 breakfast discussion for the state’s athletic directors. The topic of conversation will be “Developing the Athletic Director-Parent Relationship in Interscholastic Athletics.”
Keynote speakers will be Wells High School athletic director Marty Ryan and John Bapst boys basketball coach and AD Bob Cimbollek.
Other athletic directors who are expected to attend are Donald Dow from Stearns of Millinocket; Julie Treadwell from Maine Central Institute of Pittsfield; Messalonskee of Oakland’s Gwen Bacon; Jeff Benson from Lisbon; and Gerald Durgin from Gorham.
Winkin will moderate the morning session.
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