The Cherry Hill High School West junior is having the best season of his high school diving career after winning both the SJISA 6-Dive Championship and the SJISA Jim Roach 11-Dive Championship the last two weeks.
Cherry Hill High School West junior Dillon Hall was an avid gymnast during his childhood.
Hall competed in gymnastics until just before he started high school, learning all sorts of flips and tumbling along the way.
Though Hall had to give up gymnastics follow knee surgery a few years ago, his skills are still coming in handy in another sport today.
Hall is in the midst of a breakout season on the diving board for Cherry Hill West. In late January, he won both the SJISA 6-Dive Championship and the SJISA Jim Roach 11-Dive Championship and enters February hoping to make an impression at the NJSIAA state diving championships.
Hall’s foray into diving began at the age of 6 at Covered Bridge Swim Club. Hall recalls originally participating on the swim team, but not being very good. However, diving was a sport Hall picked up in part because of his love of gymnastics.
“I really liked gymnastics,” Hall said. “My mom realized if he likes flipping, why not just join the dive team.”
Hall competed in gymnastics until knee surgery forced him to give up the sport just before high school.
“My knee surgery, I never really fully recovered,” Hall said. “I lost the interest, and diving was right there.”
When Hall decided to try out for high school diving during the 2014–15 season, he thought he wouldn’t be the only one on the team. The last Cherry Hill West student to compete in diving was Madeline Kemner, who competed as a junior in 2013–14. However, Kemner didn’t return for her senior season in 2014–15, leaving Hall as the only team member.
Hall described himself as raw at the start of his high school career. He didn’t know many dives with a high degree of difficulty.
“At that point, I wasn’t as technical,” he said. “It was just high school and I was just trying it out. I felt I had to get my dives better and to do harder dives.”
“I probably started as a freshman doing a 2 ½ tuck,” Hall added. “Now I’ve gotten to a 2/12 pike. Even though you’re only changing the position, it dramatically changes the score.”
In Hall’s first two appearances at the SJISA 6-Dive Championship in 2015 and 2016, he finished in second place both times. He registered nearly identical scores of 216.10 in 2015 and 216 in 2016.
This year, Hall made a big leap. He won the championship with a score of 240.45, nearly 27 points more than second place Jay Soukup of Clearview Regional High School.
Hall was even better in the Jim Roach 11-Dive Championship. Defending his title from the 2016 meet, Hall blew away the competition, winning by more than 100 points with a score of 477.35. His score was only 21 points away from the Cherry Hill West 11-dive school record and 41 points away from the meet’s all-time record.
Hall said he gets motivation from the support of the school community. He credits the boys swim team and coaching staff for including him with the program and especially enjoys when they include his accomplishments at the team’s banquet each year.
“I know most of the guys on the boys swim team,” he said. “They all know me. They encourage me.”
Hall will compete with the best in the state on March 1 in the state diving championship. Last year, Hall finished in third place at the meet.
Hall’s biggest goal for the remainder of 2017 and next year is trying to re-write Cherry Hill West’s diving records.
“I want to beat those high school records,” Hall said. “That would allow me to leave my mark on Cherry Hill West.”
