For the Daily Reporter
GREENFIELD — One Hancock County diver overcame a rare mistake and another was simply happy to be competing Thursday in the diving prelims of the Hoosier Heritage Conference Meet at Greenfield-Central.
Both girls are now at the top of the leaderboard in what is shaping up to be an exciting finish Saturday in the finals at New Palestine. The final three dives will be conducted, along with the swimming competition.
Mt. Vernon’s Halle Strege leads the way with 253.05 points, followed by Karen Shriver of New Palestine at 250.10. Greenfield Central’s Grace Hall remains in contention in fourth place with 236.85 points.
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Strege sits at the top despite making a mistake on her fifth dive, where she started and stopped. In fact, she came back with her best score of the night on the following dive with 39.6 points on a forward, double somersault in the tuck position.
“Overall I felt like I could have improved,” Strege said. “After that start and stop, it really motivated me to give my all on the last three dives.”
Mt. Vernon coach James Cochran was pleased with how his diver responded.
“That’s unusual for her,” Cochran said. “Diving’s a mental game as well and I was proud of the way she recovered. She never does that in a meet. She dove really well after that.”
After spraining an ankle recently, New Palestine’s Shriver was just thrilled to be on the board. Like Strege, she has her eyes set on sectionals but hopes to take home the conference title Saturday and possibly even break the school record of 335.
“I feel really good,” Shriver said. “I was in a boot less than a month ago and coming back after only three weeks of practice feels really good. My main goal this week was to do my best and get my dives off as well as I can. I think winning would be an added bonus.”
Greenfield-Central’s Hall was also happy with her performance and looks to move up in the finals. She is just two points out of third place and within striking distance of the top.
“It’s actually one of the best meets that I’ve had,” Hall said. “So that was really nice. I wanted to be in the top five at least. I have a lot of dives I’m working on and hopefully I can get them by sectionals and up that score.”
New Palestine’s Austin Lines led the charge for the Hancock County boys with a fifth-place score of 177.95. He is less than one point out of fourth place and well within reach of third.
“Overall, I felt like I did pretty good,” Lines said. “There were some dives where I definitely need to focus on kicking out harder and make sure I’m hitting the water every time in the correct position. There were definitely some position issues I need to work on but I’m pretty proud of myself. I hope to place in the top three.”
Greenfield-Central’s Jack Mayes followed Lines in sixth place with a score of 157.70.
The HHC swimming and diving meet begins at 11 a.m. Saturday at New Palestine.
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Girls
1. Halle Strege;Mt. Vernon;253.05
2. Karen Shriver;New Palestine;250.10
3. Graycen Neu;Delta;238.85
4. Grace Hall;Greenfield-Central;236.85
5. Natalie Moulton;Yorktown;216.70
6. Abby Ryan;Greenfield-Central;186.30
7. Addy Parsley;Shelbyville;185.05
8. Meghan Brown;Greenfield-Central;183.00
9. Braelyn Stacy;Shelbyville;179.45
10. Reannin Donati;Pendleton Heights;173.30
Boys
1. Sam Bennett;Delta;333.20
2. Cameron Baker;Shelbyville;259.20
3. Cayden Sisson;Pendleton Heights;183.75
4. Cody Bivens;Delta;178.65
5. Austin Lines;New Palestine;177.95
6. Jack Mayes;Greenfield-Central;157.70
7. Ethan Tillison;Shelbyville;157.40
8. Devin Sanders;Yorktown;153.15
9. Garrett Rusch;New Palestine;146.25
10. Lance File;Shelbyville;146.15
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The Hoosier Heritage Conference swimming meet, along with the diving finals, will take place Saturday at New Palestine.
What: HHC Swimming/Diving finals
Where: New Palestine High School
When: Saturday, 11 a.m.
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