Growing up with a birthday on the Fourth of July, Samantha Pickens was always told by her parents that the fireworks were just for her.

Once she discovered her love for diving, Pickens has been busy setting off her own fireworks of sorts in the pool.

Pickens, a recent graduate of Franklin Regional High School and a four-time PIAA Class AAA diving champion has been named the 2010 Post-Gazette East Female High School Athlete of the Year.

Pickens became the first diver to win four state titles on the Class AAA level with another dominating performance at the PIAA championships in March. She also captured three WPIAL Class AAA titles and capped off her WPIAL career with a record-shattering score of 605.55.

Since the scholastic season Pickens has continued to add to her award haul with first-place finishes at nationals in both 1-meter and 3-meter diving in the 16-18 age group.

During her high school career she has dominated the scene in 1-meter diving, but the 3-meter diving victory at the nationals meet that took place in mid-April at Oxford, Ohio, was the first win for Pickens in that event.

This summer Pickens has remained busy working with her club team at the University of Pittsburgh in preparation for the 2010 National Diving Championships on the campus of Texas A&M University at College Station, Texas.

Pickens has prequalified for the event in 1-meter diving and she heads to Virginia Tech University this weekened to attempt to qualify in 3-meter as well.

Even with the rigorous practice schedule swimmers and divers endure, Pickens still managed to graduate with a 3.85 grade point average. She was also named the Westmoreland County Female High School Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

"It was pretty tough," Pickens said of maintaining good grades while devoting nearly all of her free time to diving.

"A lot of students in high school blow off their senior year but my college coach told me definitely not to do that. I took a lot of hard classes."

Her college coach at the University of Arizona is Michelle Mitchell. Pickens was recruited by Mitchell, a former Olympic medalist, and signed with the Wildcats in November during the early signing period.

Arizona is one of the premier diving programs in the country. One of the biggest determining factors with Pickens choosing Arizona was Mitchell's Olympic experience. Pickens wants to be prepared to attempt to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The Olympics will take place July 27 through Aug. 12 that year with Olympic diving trials June 18-24 in Federal Way, Wash.

For now Pickens will report to Arizona on Aug. 18 to begin conditioning and get ready for classes and hopefully begin the process of qualifying for the Olympics.

"I have been talking a lot about [the Olympics] with my college coach," Pickens said.

"She is having me get ready for the Olympic trials. When I was doing my college research, I was looking at Arizona and she was the only one with an Olympic background. It was definitely a big thing for me."

Mitchell is a former Olympic medalist with a reputation for producing Olympic-caliber divers. If her high school career was any indication, Pickens could very well be the next one.

SAMANTHA PICKENS

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