They aren’t making reservations in Iowa City just yet, but the Bobcats are banking on having a girls’ state diving participant for the 10th year in a row.

Marshalltown High School junior Harlie Thatcher accumulated a season-best 365.90-point performance to finish in sixth place at Thursday’s regional diving meet held inside the Linda Bloom Natatorium at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA.

Thatcher pushed her career-best diving score forward by 1.85 points to establish what she believed to be a good enough number to get her to the state for the first time.

The list of 32 statewide qualifiers hadn’t been posted online as of press time, so Thatcher left the YMCA with a meet medal and a hope for happy news.

“It’s just really surprising since it’s my first year diving,” said Thatcher, an avid gymnast. “It’s pretty awesome. I mean, it’s really surprising. I’ve done gymnastics for 10 years and my dad — he dove all through high school and college — he’s been really trying to get me to go out and I finally caved and I really like it.”

Thatcher finished sixth in the Marshalltown region behind five divers with state meet experience. Southeast Polk’s Emory Braunschweig-Norris won the regional with a 460.05, and teammate Holli Hetzer was second at 428.95.

Thatcher also finished in front of two returning state qualifiers in Iowa City West’s Rowan Russell and Davenport West’s Kasyn Kurtz. Kurtz finished sixth in the Dubuque regional, which Marshalltown hosted as well.

“I think what speaks volumes for Harlie is that she didn’t really get very nervous,” said MHS head coach Angie Nelson. “At the Bobcat Invite, I think it was just a little overwhelming because there were so many divers here, and I don’t think this (regional meet) shook her up as much.

“She came in with a smile, she knew she had a job to do, and all she really has to do is just dive a clean list.”

Thatcher started her list of 11 dives with a safe one — a back dive — with a low degree of difficulty, and then she followed it up with her favorite and most difficult dive: the back somersault with 1 1/2 twists.

She knew she struck gold when she hit the water and emerged from the pool to see nothing but 6s and 7s on the scoreboard. It was her best dive of the night, scoring 42.55 points, and it leapfrogged her into fourth place in the early stages of the meet and eventually a new career-best total.

“It feels great just to get a PR (personal record) at the regional meet, knowing that I went out and did my best,” Thatcher said. “That is probably my favorite dive. I love twisting. Twisting’s my favorite.

“You always have risk with failing those (higher degree of difficulty) dives, so it’s kind of a gamble. You’re throwing those dives to get a high score, but they’re harder.”

Her next-best score of the night came on her next-to-last dive — a forward somersault with, you guessed it, two twists. It also comes with a 2.3 degree of difficulty.

The end result was a 37.95 and one last big boost before the 11-dive totals were accumulated.

“She’s got great experience from the other things that she’s been involved in,” Nelson said. “Dad’s been a great diving mentor here at the Y for years, so just watching her perform and handling each dive on its own, not really getting too far ahead of herself — she really does a great job of thinking what she’s got to do and when it’s over, moving on.”

Now she’s just hoping she can continue moving on with next week’s state meet in Iowa City.

“We have a lot of legacy with Abby (Tollefson) and Kate (Hauser) and all of them, so just knowing that we’ve been pretty good with Marshalltown divers is amazing,” Thatcher said.

In the previous nine years, the Bobcats qualified seven different divers for state: Hauser, Tollefson, Kaisa Stanley, Hannah Taylor, Mia Rasmusson, and Alli and Sami Trowbridge.

Nelson believes Thatcher is about to become the eighth.

“That score should do it,” Nelson said. “I can’t wait to see what she does.”

Marshalltown Regional

At Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA

1. Emory Braunschweig-Norris, SEP 460.05

2. Holli Hetzer, SE Polk 428.95

3. Neelie Streit, Waukee 419.20

4. Eliza Schmidt, Waukee 400.45

5. Audra Doty, SE Polk 385.25

6. Harlie Thatcher, MHS 365.90

7. Rowan Russell, IC West 344.55

8. Addyson Gunn, Waukee 331.30

9. June Clark, IC West 281.05

10. Irelynd Hagarty, IC High 271.45

11. Calista Cahill, IC High 215.20

Dubuque Regional

At Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA

1. Payton Ryan, Hempstead 370.55

2. Abigail Schoeneman, C. Falls 367.95

3. Kendal Hanson, Bettendorf 336.80

4. Darcy Gassman, Hempstead 332.45

5. Kasyn Kurtz, Dav. West 324.20

6. Reese Kenyon, Bettendorf 310.45

7. Lydia Pruisner, Cedar Falls 309.40

8. Chloe Carney, Dubuque Senior 302.60

9. Carsyn Sparrgrove, Cedar Falls 292.70

10. Aaliyah Smothers, Wahlert 268.20

11. Emmie Loeffelholz, Hemp. 267.85

12. Ellie Huebl, Dav. Central 267.80

13. Marissa Bradford, Dav. Ctrl. 266.05

14. Anacely Careaga, Dav. Ctrl. 226.85

15. Evalynn Benson, Wahlert 214.60