Four local high school divers qualify for state meet

MISHAWAKA | It's not often that two divers from the same school perform well enough to compete at Indiana's highest level. But that's exactly what Valparaiso's Zach Schwartz and Muyenda Burnett did at Tuesday's Mishawaka Regional.

Schwartz finished sixth with 409.70 points while Burnett placed seventh with 388.60 points, advancing them to Saturday's state meet at the Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis natatorium.

"It's been a while since we've had two guys both going down to the state meet, so I think it's really cool for both of us to be going," Schwartz said.

While both are making the trip downstate for the first time, Burnett's qualification for Saturday was the end of a very rocky road.

"I didn't even really do well until this year," he said. "I didn't make the DAC finals last year and didn't compete in sectionals because I hurt my ear. I did really bad sophomore year, but I worked really hard to improve in the offseason, so here I am. Now I get to go to state for the first time in this sport and hopefully return for track in the spring."

LaPorte's Josh Arndt had a strong meet from start to finish, winning the regional with 517.60 points.

"I was actually really nervous coming in," he said. "I came in the third seed, and I just got on the board, and it fell in place. I hit the dives that I missed on Saturday at sectionals. Moving through the dives, I got more confident with each one."

Arndt also will make his first state meet appearance and is looking forward to testing his skills against the state's best.

"It's exciting, and I'm so happy about it," he said. "Freshman and sophomore year, I didn't make the cut whatsoever. Coming out this year and showing everyone I could do it — and having a shot to go down to state — is really exciting."

Rounding out the local qualifiers was Portage's Alex Rosales, who finished fifth with 420.85 points to make his first state meet appearance. All four local qualifiers came from the LaPorte Sectional.

"I just came in and did my job," he said. "I'm pretty excited for it. I wouldn't have made it without my coach or my teammates."

Munster's Sean Cloghessy (11th place) and Zach Cherogan (16th) and Crown Point's Sage Chairo (13th) and Matt Falaney (17th) finished outside of the qualifying top eight places.