With the conclusion of Ohio’s diving season at the NCAA Zone Championships this weekend, the Bobcats ended their year with a drip rather than a splash.
On the second day of competition, junior Morgan Srail bounced back after a struggling period on the one-meter dive where she placed 20th for the Bobcats.
Srail recorded a score of 266.90, while seniors Kristin Capcik and MaryRose Hillstrom placed 23rd and 29th, respectively, out of 43 divers.
Southern Illinois’ Kaixuan Zhang won the ‘Zone C’ Championship with a final score of 709.90.
Coach Russ Dekker and the divers were not made available for comment after multiple attempts for contact by.
The team’s final meet resulted in the conclusion of Hillstrom’s and Capcik’s careers as Bobcats, as Capcik said earlier in the year she wants to be remembered by the program for her hard work and dedication.
Capcik, who holds a handful of Ohio diving records, finished with a score of 261.15, as the record holder finished her career with five first-place finishes this season. She finished the first day of the tournament with a score of 503.65 in the one-meter dive championship.
Dekker noted earlier in the week that having just a three-diver rotation has put a lot more pressure on the girls.
Throughout the year, the Bobcats were associated with their solid work ethic and rugged style, as the divers would at times fight through pains to compete.
“I don’t think I can take credit for that,” Dekker said. “They were brought up that way. Some of them were gymnasts and so they taught themselves to work through pain.”
Despite Ohio’s sixth place finish at the Mid-American Conference Championships, Dekker was named the MAC diving coach of the year. He said that not all the credit could go to himself, as one of the diver’s long-term goals was for him to win the award.
@Lukeoroark
lr514812@ohiou.edu
This article appeared in print under the headline "Ohio loses 2 divers, ends season with disappointment"
