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Harlie rides to Alliance title

Marshalltown's Harlie Thatcher wins conference diving crown at home

Having led for nearly the entire night, Marshalltown senior diver Harlie Thatcher didn't panic when she slipped into second place.

She knew what she had left on her list of dives.

Thatcher used a strong finish over the final three rounds to climb out of second place and pick up Tuesday's Iowa Alliance Conference diving title at the Marshalltown High School pool.

Thatcher, last year's Alliance North Division runner-up, posted her highest score of the night on her final dive to solidify her spot atop the podium. A trio of Des Moines Lincoln divers gave chase, but not even a brief scare from Alyssa Wheeler was enough to knock Thatcher off her game.

Thatcher scored 48.3 points on her 11th and final dive -- a back somersault with 1 1/2 twists -- thanks to a 2.3 degree of difficulty and her carefree execution of it.

"I love that dive, it's my back twister," she said. "I know it, like, so well, and I just love doing it. Having that at the end, I don't have to stress about it."

Thatcher finished with an 11-dive total of 395.55, which is shy of her season high (420.55) but miles ahead of her 11th-place result (318.45) from Saturday's Bobcat All-Dive Invite.

The 40-girl field from Saturday included two divers who had already qualified for state and five more who earned automatic entry that day. Tuesday's Alliance meet included just six other divers, three of which competed as junior varsity.

Thatcher's goal of winning the Alliance Conference crown had nothing to do with the size of the field, but an expectation driven by her ability.

"Yeah, that was definitely a goal of mine throughout the season, so I'm very happy about it," she said. "It was pretty much the same list (from Saturday), but I'll change it up for regionals.

"I feel great. Today was way better. I felt more calm, just went out and had fun and I was able to put consistent dives together."

Thatcher's lowest scoring dive was her eighth -- an inward dive that netted just 30 points and gave Lincoln's Wheeler a window of opportunity when her back somersault with 1 1/2 twists scored just shy of 45 points.

Wheeler went in front after the eighth round, 278.65-278.15, but Thatcher's closing argument was more convincing. She scored 36.3 points with her inward 1 1/2 somersault, added 32.8 points on a back somersault, and closed with her favorite dive.

"Yeah, she needs to win this one, and she has the talent and the capability to win this one," said MHS head coach Angie Nelson. "Saturday was a good test -- that's a good meet to learn how to dive nervous because it's a lot of competitors and a lot of good competitors. It was a really good opportunity to be in that environment where you're a little uneasy and you're a little uncomfortable.

"Tonight was a different story. There was one girl that tried to give her a run for her money, and that's good too."

Wheeler, who held the second-best six-dive score among conference competition coming into Tuesday's meet, closed with a 371.25 total to score the silver. Lincoln's Lawsen Ogbourne was third (266.90), and Lejla Babic-Kooi came in fourth (231.05)

While the Alliance wasn't able to present Thatcher with much resistance, but her 395.55 total is still the sixth-best score in the state this season. Her 420.55 is third-best behind only Mylee Dirks of Dowling Catholic (450.50) and Emory Braunschweig-Norris of Southeast Polk (424.75).

"Her dives are solid, and when she's on and she's feeling really good about it and she's using the board well, her dives are solid," Nelson said of Thatcher. "She can compete with anybody, she's so consistent. She's been amazing to work with."

The swimming portion of the Iowa Alliance Conference meet is Thursday at Fort Dodge, and the state-qualifying diving meet is Thursday, Nov. 5, at Summit Middle School in Johnston. Marshalltown hosts its qualifying swim meet on Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA.