BLOOMSBURG - Add two more names to the list of Shamokin swimmers going to the state meet.
Divers Tyler Moroskie and Ciana Rollman each took second in the District 4 diving championships at Bloomsburg Middle School to earn spots on the bus to Bucknell University for the PIAA meet in March.
Moroskie finished second to Bloomsburg's Alec Lane, who finished fourth at last year's state meet. This will mark Moroskie's first trip to states.
"I've been after this for four years and I finally got it," Moroskie said. "I'm very excited."
Ditto for Rollman, who is just a junior. She finished second to Bloomsburg's Lauren Ball.
"I'm a junior and I'm going to states, that's awesome," she said.
Both had some work to do after their first five dives of the competition.
"I was nervous today, and the first five dives I was down a little bit," Rollman said, "but then I got the courage and went all out.
"Diving is hit or miss. If you mess one up, you're saying, 'Oh, my god,' and it's kind of hard to get back in your rhythm. For this kind of meet, when you mess up you just have to blow it off."
She finished strong and ended up with a school record score of 361.05, 34 points better than her previous record.
Rollman made a bold prediction, too. She said Moroskie, who was in second by just 13 points after five dives, would make it. She was right.
For Moroskie, that break was the turning point of his meet.
"I realized he was right on my tail and I needed to bring it in," Moroskie said of Central Colum-
bia's Sam Juckes, who ulimately finished 65 points behind Moroskie for third.
"I started off feeling nervous and the first five dives I normally do better, but I held it together the last two sections. I pulled myself together and came through with it."
Shamokin diving coach Rich Kashnoski couldn't have been happier for his two pupils.
"Two amazing, dedicated divers," Kashnoski said. "They kept pushing and they knew what they had to do. We had Cici break a record and this was Tyler's first loss of the year and he still finished second. You can't beat that.
"This is a first time for both of them going to states. It's a new experience for all of us. None of us have done it and it's a nice journey to be able to take together."
Briar Forbes finished in fifth for Shamokin and was followed by Tyler Forbes in sixth and Brad Shipe in eighth. The boost in points propelled the Indians' boys to second in the final team standings behind Bloomsburg.
Erin Duganitz placed seventh for the Indians' girls and Mariah Bielski 11th as the girls jumped to sixth overall.
The golds by the boys 200-yard free relay and by Samantha Carpenter in the 100-yard breaststroke on Friday at the swimming championships gave Moroskie, who also qualified for All-American honors with a point total over 375, a little extra push Saturday.
"That helped push me a lot more," he said. "They already achieved so much and I just wanted to add to it."