PHOTO COURTESY OF LORI TOLLEFSON - Marshalltown High School divers Kate Hauser, left, and Abby Tollefson pose with their regional medals after Thursday’s meet at Ames High School. Tollefson punched her ticket to state by winning the regional title, while Hauser earned her ticket as an at-large qualifier.

AMES — The quest for a fourth straight trip to state cleared one final obstable, even if it was merely a speed bump.

Marshalltown senior Abby Tollefson made sure of her place in the Iowa Girls High School State Diving Championships by winning Thursday’s regional meet at Ames High School by nearly 142 points, piling up a winning total of 556.35.

Tollefson’s closest competition was her closest teammate — fellow West Marshall student Kate Hauser. Hauser secured second place at regionals with a personal-record score of 414.50, though her spot among state qualifiers had to await an at-large process. Hauser is seeded 13th out of 32 state qualifiers, 26 of which advanced on scoring.

It was a mere formality, much like regionals was for Tollefson.

“It was a good meet,” Tollefson said. “My list went pretty well tonight. I had kind of a hiccup on my first dive … but other than that it went pretty smooth. For the most part it was a pretty consistent day.”

Tollefson said consistency is her primary goal during competition, though that may change when the state meet rolls around Nov. 10 at the Marshalltown YMCA/YWCA. The MHS senior diver has finished 28th, fourth and second in consecutive trips to state, and she was the state’s top-ranked diver by more than 110 points heading into regionals.

“My goal tonight was just consistency,” Tollefson said. “I would say going into a meet with the mindset of wanting to win isn’t always the best way to do it. My mindset was consistent and clean dives, and I did that for the most part.”

Tollefson takes the top seed into next week’s state diving competition, with fellow regional champions Kamila Swanson of Iowa City West (490.8), Holli Hetzer of Southeast Polk (458.55) and Alisa Grady from Johnston (450.8) giving chase.

Aside from the Bobcat duo, only one other diver from Marshalltown’s regional competition advanced to state. Lucy York of Ames (349.95) qualified with the 31st seed.

Hauser, in her state debut last season, placed 26th.

Marshalltown’s swimmers will try to find their way into the list of state qualifiers when they return to Ames High School on Saturday for the regional meet at noon.

Regional Diving Scores

1. Abby Tollefson, MHS 556.35

2. Kate Hauser, MHS 414.50

3. Lucy York, Ames 349.95

4. Greta Goodman, Ames 339.65

5. Delaney O’Connor, FD 277.70

6. Hailey Olson, Boone 245.65

7. Janiah Proctor, Ames 222.10