They share very little except the camaraderie of teammates. And,
of course, a ticket to compete at the Central Coast Section diving
finals on Saturday morning at Stanford University. They are the
Live Oak divers
– seniors Stephen Shope and Lee Bell, and junior Ferry Unger –
and they are ranked Nos. 3-4-5 in the CCS finals.
They share very little except the camaraderie of teammates. And, of course, a ticket to compete at the Central Coast Section diving finals on Saturday morning at Stanford University.
They are the Live Oak divers – seniors Stephen Shope and Lee Bell, and junior Ferry Unger – and they are ranked Nos. 3-4-5 in the CCS finals.
According to LO coach Jeff Olivetti, Shope and Bell have spent the past four years competing for the top spot on the team. For most of the time, the talented Bell took the lead, earning team MVP honors twice. But Shope, the taller and lankier of the two, kept working and finally surpassed his teammate this season. After edging Bell at the CCS finals last season, Shope again scooted ahead of his teammate in the TCAL finals this year, taking second to league champ Sam Figueroa of Salinas. Bell was third and Unger fifth. Ironically, Bell is ranked third at CCS, just ahead of Shope.
Then there’s Unger, a German exchange student who displayed phenomenal athletic talent by qualifying for CCS in both diving and track this season.
Unger, who is living with LO teacher Brooke Bailey and her family for one semester, had never competed in diving before this season but decided he was interested in trying the sport after attending a swim team practice. A few months later, Unger is among the top divers in the section.
In fact, his success off the board has created a bit of a dilemma because he also competed for the track team this season, and recorded a CCS qualifying time in the 400 earlier this season. But Unger still has to earn a CCS spot at the TCAL finals, which will be held on Saturday at Live Oak.
As of now, Unger is reportedly planning on competing in the CCS diving finals at Stanford in the morning, then traveling to LO to run in the 400 later on.
All that would be impressive enough, but Unger also happens to be a stellar student who is taking AP Chemistry, AP Biology and Anatomy/Physiology this semester.
So, how does he do it all?
“It’s pretty hard,” Unger said. “I’m really busy the whole day.”
