North Penn’s Gagnon, Yacopino among locals eyeing state return at District 1 Championships

North Penn’s Marie Yacopino and Geoffroy Gagnon look to follow up their conference titles with district medals this weekend as the District 1 Diving Championships get underway at North Penn High School.

The boys event will be held tonight, beginning at 5:30, and the girls will follow on Saturday, starting at 10:30 a.m.

Yacopino captured the Suburban One League Continental Conference title last week, setting league and pool records in fact, and Gagnon won gold in the boys event to begin their postseasons in impressive fashion.

Both are looking for return trips to states.

As a freshman last season, Yacopino placed sixth at districts and then surged to a silver medal at the state championships. She goes in as one of the favorites this year in District 1-AAA.

Gagnon is also one to watch in 3A, having placed fifth at districts last year.

Yacopino and Gagnon hope to have some company on the trip to Bucknell. Teammate Madison Tanis, ninth at districts last winter, aims for another trip to states while the Knights, as a whole, are coming off an overwhelming performance at leagues.

North Penn took four of the top five spots, as Quinn Mitchell (second), Bryce Hoch (fourth) and Ian Boland Bintner (fifth) all shined at Central Bucks South.

SOL American and PAC-10 talent will also be well-represented at North Penn.

Methacton’s Daniel Roy was a medalist last year and aims for another trip to Bucknell while Wissahickon’s Meg Berardelli should be in contention for another trip to the district medal stand.

Another one to watch in Class AAA is Central Bucks West’s Sarah Stim, a bronze medalist last week at leagues.

Points earned this weekend could have a great impact on overall team scoring for districts. The North Penn girls captured the District One crown last year and the Knights earned the runner-up spot, with both squads getting a solid head start with the points they earned at Upper Dublin.

The swimming portion of districts will be held Friday and Saturday at La Salle University next week.