By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor
For the third straight year, a Clermont County athlete has won an OHSAA title.
West Clermont senior Morgan Southall claimed the Division I diving championship on Thursday, February 21 at C.T. Branin Natatorium in Canton, Ohio, her first championship and the first title in West Clermont history.
Southall said her experience in Canton was unlike any other she’s had thus far.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Southall said. “There are a lot of kids in high school that are athletes and their whole goal is to be a state champion. I still can’t believe it, it really blows my mind. It was really cool.”
Southall trailed Gahanna Lincoln’s Maycey Vieta heading into her final dive. Southall knew there was a chance Vieta could put the win out of reach with her last dive.
“I knew going into the last dive that her last dive was a big one,” Southall said. “I knew there was a chance that she was going to smash it and there would be no chance I could get her. She did a really good dive.”
Vieta’s dive left her with a total score of 474.40 heading into Southall’s final attempt. Southall’s final dive earned a 48.40 mark, good for a total score of 479.55.
Head coach Lisa Werwinski praised Southall’s ability to come through on her final try to clinch the title.
“She performed so well under pressure,” Werwinski said. “Every other meet this season, besides the first meet in Columbus where she went against the same girl, really wasn’t a challenge for her. Every other meet was lopsided, she wasn’t even close. This was the first meet where she actually competed against someone who could legitimately challenge her.”
Southall had an understandable reaction when she learned she would win the championship.
“I cried,” Southall said. “Immediately. It felt like forever. I got out of the pool and I was waiting, it felt like forever.”
Werwinski had a similar, if slightly different reaction to the news.
“Relief,” Werwinski said. “We’ve known since the beginning of the year that she probably could do it. I was just so excited for her. She’s worked so hard. It was the perfect exclamation mark on the season of absolute dominance that she had. I knew how much it meant to her. I knew how much she wanted it. It was just the coolest feeling to see it come to fruition and for her to reach one of her biggest goals.”
Southall said her last dive is one she’s familiar with, and she just let her instincts take over instead of trying to force it.
“My last dive is one I’m really comfortable with,” Southall said. “I knew I needed four more points than she did. I just let my body do what it knows how to do. If I were to overthink it, things could have changed. I just took a deep breath, did my routine, trusted my coach and myself, and went up there.”
Southall celebrated the win with her West Clermont teammates, who joined her on the trip to Canton. Having them there was one of her biggest advantages.
“They’re my family,” Southall said. “I couldn’t have done it without them. A lot of the times when you get into championship season, that’s when teams sort of dissipate. That’s when it can get pretty lonely. That’s how it has been in the past, and that’s really hard. Being so focused can be overwhelming. Being able to have them stick with me, come up there and cheer me on, give me an outlet to relax and have fun with during the meet, was so crucial. I don’t think it would have been the same if they weren’t there.”
Werwinski said the team traveled together to the meet and stuck together throughout the entire experience.
“They got to follow the whole itinerary,” Werwinski said. “I rented a premium SUV, so all of us traveled together the entire trip. That’s what Morgan wanted. She didn’t want a glorified two-day meet with me. She wanted her teammates by her side, and I think that speaks to her character and the person that she is.”
Werwinski said Southall never lets her success as an athlete keep her from being a great teammate.
“She’s a great diver, she’s a phenomenal athlete,” Werwinski said. “Since she’s been 14 years old, I’ve been with her. I’m her high school coach, I’m her club coach. I’ve spent a lot of time with the kid, and I’ve watched her…she’s selfless, she’s sweet, she’s humble. You watch her on the pool deck, as good as she is, and she’s sitting there helping her teammates. She’s not self-absorbed.”
Werwinski noted there were times during Southall’s career where she would be just as happy for her teammates than she would be for herself.
“She’s just a good kid,” Werwinski said. “All season long, she had her teammates by her side. She was just as excited about their accomplishments as she was her own.”
Even after she’s had a few days to reflect on this particular accomplishment, Southall was still in awe of the support from the West Clermont community.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Southall said. “Since we’ve become such a big school, I feel like it’s united the community a lot more than it has in the past.”
Werwinski said she had received tons of messages from throughout the community. Werwinski believes Southall being a West Clermont student throughout her career was one of the reasons the support was so strong.
“[Southall] trained with West Clermont the entire season,” Werwinski said. “A lot of kids that reach her level go off and train with club coaches and they’re really not members of the high school team. She was. She was a full member of the team, and I think the community knew that. She was built within the walls of West Clermont High School, in that weight room, in that pool. I think something like that means more to the community because she is part of the community. Her family’s part of the community. She’s been in the district her whole life. The response was fitting, I think. This wasn’t a kid we recruited or plucked into the district. This was a West Clermont kid who has reached heights no one else has reached.”
While the record books will forever list Southall as the first state champion to come from West Clermont High School, she doesn’t necessarily feel that way herself.
“It’s weird, I don’t really think of it that way,” Southall said. “I did go to school in Amelia, so I know there are state champions from Amelia. I know there are state champions from Glen Este, and I count those people as my family too. It’s not just me, it was a team effort.”