It’s time for some girls diving, as we head to the Neuqua Valley Diving Sectional. The Wildcats host four other local DuPage Valley Conference schools along with Benet Academy, and Oswego Co-Op among other competitors. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Start of the action at the Neuqua Valley girls diving sectional
The meet begins with Metea Valley’s Bridget Anderson performing an inward dive pike. She would finish the day with a score of 390.20.
From Waubonsie Valley High School is Ella Buchenhauer performing a forward two-tuck somersault. She manages to take the top 4 with a score of 403.70, just missing out on an at-large bid to state.
Now on the board is Naperville Central’s Gabby Tapia performing a forward two-somersault dive. Tapia would go on to finish the day with a score of 366.55.
Samarra Connely of Naperville North goes in for a back one somersault half twist position. The Huskie finishes the day with a score of 356.45.
Furthermore, Benet’s Elin Eiseman performs a nice dive for the top 10 spot. She records a score of 376.15 across all dives on the day.
Two Wildcats secure a spot at the State Meet
On the board is Lillian Marx performing a backward dive, securing a score of 38.5 on the attempt. Marx advances to the state meet with an at-large selection after finishing in third place in today’s sectional with an overall score of 408.45.
Later on, Neuqua Valley’s Xara Gin looking to take a top three spot and she does with this dive. Gin scored a 42 on this dive and finishes the meet with a score of 448.45, good enough for second place and a spot at the state meet. She previously took 3rd place with a score of 390.40 in last year’s sectional.
Katie Malm breaks a nine-year pool record
The final diver of the day is sophomore Katie Malm of the Oswego Co-op. Malm is able to lock down the top spot in this sectional, as her score for this dive is 40.5. This would help secure the top spot at the Neuqua Valley diving sectional, with a final score of 503.85. That’s enough to break the pool record, previously held by Naperville Central’s Sydney Dusel with a score of 499.80 in 2014.
Malm qualifies for state again, after she did as a freshman last year. Marx and Gin of Neuqua also advance to the state meet through at-large selections.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
