Chelsea McCorvey, Sara Mokhtari, Chris Khosravi and Hudson Rains are headed to Austin in two weeks for the UIL State Swimming and Diving Meet.

The four divers competed at the Region V finals on Thursday at Fort Bend ISD Natatorium and wound up at the top to qualify for state.

Memorial’s McCorvey (450.40) and Elkins’ Khosravi (532.10) placed first above 14 other divers in their group. Stratford’s Mokhtari (440.50) and Cy-Fair’s Rains (530.50) placed second in a very close finish.

“There was really good competition,” Khosravi said. “Hudson Rains was right on my tail the whole time. It was neck and neck until the end.”

Thirty divers from schools such as Cy-Fair, Fort Bend Clements, Cypress Ridge, Stratford and Memorial dove five dives in the prelim round. The bottom three divers were cut and 12 competed in the semi-finals. Four more divers were cut and the top eight dove for the chance to go to state.

The girls’ meet was competitive from the beginning. McCorvey and Mokhtari were within four points of each other after the prelims. Mokhtari led after the semi-finals but McCorvey came out on top by 10 points.

“Sara (Mokhtari) is an awesome diver,” McCorvey said. “She has progressed so much and she deserves it more than anyone. In meets like this, you have to be on throughout the whole entire thing. She made one little mistake and that put me ahead of her in the final round.”

McCorvey, a senior, has been to state all four of her years at Memorial. After graduation, she will attend LSU for diving and major in business.

As a junior this year, Mokhtari said, “this was one of my best meets so far,” and looks forward to state. 

“Last year was my first year at state and ended up about 0.2 points away from taking third,” said Mokhtari. “I just want to do my best and fun because I made it that far.”

On the boys’ side, the battle for first was just as tough. Khosravi and Rains dove into the lead by more than 40 points after the prelims. Khosravi had a 20 point lead heading into the finals but Rains was right on his tail.

“It was a real nail-bitter, coming down to the last dive,” Rains said. “It was crazy intense.”

Diving in the eighth spot in the finals was Khosravi who finished with a score of 532.10. Rains was the next diver who, with his last dive, finished less than two points behind Khosravi.

Both juniors, Khosravi and Rains, are heading back to the state meet from last year. Khosravi placed eighth and Rains finished sixth. Both divers hope to do better than last year and place high.

“This year (at state) I am hoping to make the top three or four,” Khosravi said.

“I feel that this was one of my best meets ever,” Rains said. “It was one of my cleanest meets. This year at state, I just want to do better than I did last year, so maybe the top four or five.”

Other top finishers at the region meet were:

Girls:
3. Elise Kaufman (328.05)-Fort Bend Clements
4. Chelsea Pletcher (324.75)-Elkins
5. Jordan Craig (320.80)-Langham Creek
6. Kristin Klotz (315.45)-Cypress Falls
7. Christina Dillon (296.05)-Clements
8. Melissa Wheeler (260.90)-Stratford

Boys:
3. Sean Mokhtari (407.05)-Statford
4. Francisco Guerra (406.35)-Fort Bend Kempner

5. Ryan Underwood (377.50)-Cy Ridge
6. Steven Campbell (327.75)-Stratford
7. Shane Berggren (296.75)-Bellaire
8. Matt Kenny (246.50)-Strake Jesuit

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