Perkiomen Valley’s Filzen returns to win District 1 diving gold
Perkiomen Valley senior Gabby Filzen returned to the District 1 Class 3A Girls Diving Championships in a big way on Saturday.
After missing the 2020-21 high school season amid concerns of the COVID-19 virus, Filzen was back on the board at North Penn High School facing off against the district’s other top divers.
She topped the District 1 field, putting together a score of 322.70 for her first district gold.
“For me, I didn’t really care about winning,” Filzen said. “I wanted to make states mostly, and I wanted to go out and have fun and do my dives well and be with my friends because I missed all my friends from Pennsylvania.”
Filzen earned her gold Saturday by edging Conestoga’s Grace Gallagher (318.55) and Avery Hillier (308.30).
“It really came down to the last three rounds,” Filzen said. “Me, Avery and Grace were all neck and neck during the entire 11 dives, so I think we all just put our best out there, and it saw me come out in first.”
Filzen, who earned her third Pioneer Athletic Conference championship last week, did not compete at the high school level last season. She did have the chance to compete for her club and USA Diving, even going to nationals prior to the start of this season.
The PV senior finished seventh at the 2020 District 1 Class 3A diving championships as a sophomore — far off the top spot in the district. In her return, she proved herself as District 1’s best.
“I definitely was sad missing out on it because I really do like high school diving because it’s so different from club diving,” Filzen said. “It’s a really fun experience for me, so I was really sad I missed out on it.”
“It’s special to win my senior year and really go out with a bang at districts,” she added.
She said the difference had a lot to do with her mental growth on the board.
“I think I’ve really grown in my competitive mindset in doing a bad dive, but have my next dive be really good,” Filzen said. “To just shake off that, and just come and compete and have fun and not be all serious.”
The top eight divers Saturday advanced to the PIAA championships, which take place March 17 at Bucknell University. Filzen finished 18th as a sophomore and hopes to improve on that standing in her final opportunity at states.
“I really want to final, but I just want to do the best I can, and show everyone what I can do,” Filzen said.
“I did go to states my sophomore year,” she added. “I did not do my best, but I’m happy to get to back and prove them all wrong.”
NOTES >> Perkiomen Valley’s Ben Incollingo and Phoenixville’s Leo Edmonds-Doberenz both competed at the District 1-3A Boys Diving championship on Friday. Incollingo finished 11th out of 18 competitors with a score of 356.90. Edmonds-Doberenz finished 17th with a score of 213.70. Abington’s Conor Gesing won the event with a score of 600.90.
