H-S Athlete of the week: Eleanor Carei, Uniontown
Name: Eleanor Carei
School: Uniontown
Class: Freshman
Sport: Diving
Carei’s week: The Lady Red Raider broke a 15-year-old school record for six dives with a score of 218.30 in Uniontown’s 83-59 victory over cross-town rival Laurel Highlands last Thursday in Section 5-2A play. Jozie Squib was the previous record holder, having held the mark since 2010 with a score of 212.70.
Carei opened her week last Monday with a score of 165.25 to win in a non-section meet against Ligonier Valley.
Carei has qualified for the Class 2A WPIAL diving championships that will be held Feb. 21 at North Allegheny High School.
“I just wanted to get over 200 when I went into the meet against Laurel Highlands,” Carei said. “I didn’t think I was going to hit the record. I have been working on beating my scores each time out, and if my opponents happen to beat me, then kudos to them.”
In the meet against the Mustangs, Carei started with a 1 1⁄2 pike, which didn’t go quite so well in a prior meet, but she was able to earn a high score. She was pleased with her inward tuck and forward double somersault.
“I had done the 1 1⁄2 pike at a prior meet, and I messed it up in the middle, so I wanted to show I could do it,” Carei said. “I did it really well and I got a really high score. The forward double somersault brought my score up because it was the highest degree of difficulty. They score all of the dives, take that and multiply the degree of difficulty for the final score.”
New to the sport: Carei is in her first year diving, but the event is in her blood, as her brother, Braden, and sister, Maeve, also competed at Uniontown.
“My siblings competed in diving and I like tumbling, so my siblings said that diving would be something that I would like to do,” Carei said. “I also compete in the swimming events because at Uniontown, we have such a small team that if you dive, you must swim. We only have six girls on the team, but we work really hard.”
Carei was surprised by being the center of attention when she dove in the first meet of the season.
“At our first meet, I didn’t know that every single person watched, so that made me nervous,” Carei said.
Busy young lady: Carei plays soccer for the Lady Red Raiders primarily as a striker, but she also sees time at center midfield. Carei will be joining the track & field team and competing in the pole vault, which is what Braden and Maeve participated in.
“I just play soccer for the high school team,” Eleanor Carei said. “I did gymnastics growing up, but once I got into soccer and track & field, I had to start letting a few activities go.”
Carei understands that she must keep her grades up while continuing in athletics and extracurricular activities.
Carei will be performing in the Uniontown school musical, and also helps prepare meals with her brother, Lorenzo, and her father, Joe, for Easter to help those in need.