All season long Ohio’s diving squad had been the backbone of the team, producing good scores and proved its reliability.
The group secured a win against last season’s Mid-American Conference champion Toledo and scored 88 points at the conference championships to hold off Bowling Green in the race for the runner-up title.
As soon as Haleigh Bartlett, MaryRose Hillstrom, Morgan Srail and Kristin Capcik entered the postseason stage, however, Ohio’s consistency was gone.
Instead of participating in the 3-meter diving finals Thursday night, all four Bobcats were already back in their hotel rooms, trying to find an answer to an unsatisfying preliminary round.
Placing 23rd in the preliminary round, Srail was the best Bobcat, but far from clinching a top 18 spot to advance to the final. Capcik followed in 24th place, while Bartlett and Hillstrom placed in the 30s.
“They didn’t compete as well as they did throughout the season,” Ohio diving coach Russ Dekker said after the first day. “I’m a little disappointed.”
The meet was supposed to crown Ohio’s season. The squad hoped to clinch one of the nine invitations to the NCAA tournament this weekend. Instead Dekker had to find reasons for what went wrong just after the first day of competition.
“You can’t go back and change it,” Dekker said before hanging up the phone. “We’ll try to do better tomorrow.”
Bartlett and Hillstrom, must have regained confidence overnight, as both advanced to the final on the 1-meter diving board.
“The girls did a good job of putting the first day behind them,” Dekker said. Bartlett and Hillstrom were able to improve to finish 15th and 16th, respectively – the best they’ve ever done.
Still, some moods didn’t brighten up during the second day. Srail and Capcik had to watch their teammates compete in the final, after placing 27th and 32nd in the preliminary round, respectively. Despite improving last year’s result, they weren’t satisfied.
“They are very disappointed,” Dekker said.
The athletes’ reactions and Dekker’s words show Ohio’s high expectations – a factor the squad has to learn to deal with. Dekker said that the intimidation of such a big meet might have been a factor this past weekend.
A team that did a better job at it was Eastern Michigan. Danielle Hulvey and Kelly Hendricks both received an invitation to the NCAA tournament after placing third and second in the one-meter diving final, respectively. The Bobcats have beaten them in a dual meet before.
“(Ohio is) good enough for the NCAA tournament,” Dekker said. “We just have to believe in the future that we are able to qualify.”
am794811@ohiou.edu
