Four region divers heading to state

MISHAWAKA | Khalela El-Naggar already knew she was heading to Indianapolis, but the Valparaiso junior wanted to make sure she was heading downstate with some momentum.

El-Naggar bounced back from three subpar dives late in the Mishawaka Girls Diving Regional on Tuesday night and nailed her final attempt, a reverse one-and-a-half from the tuck position, which clinched the regional title.

The Valparaiso junior finished with 410.3 points, edging out Crown Point's Charlie Wayne (394.05) and St. Joseph's Samm Reese (382.25).

"I knew that nothing was set in stone going into that final dive," El-Naggar said. "I got a little nervous when I realized how close the score had gotten. I had to do what I had to do to pull it out."

Wayne shined Tuesday night as the Crown Point junior converted a front double pike that the judges scored a 46, the highest score of the night for a single dive. Wayne scored a pair of 44's in her seventh and eighth dives, which closed the gap with El-Naggar to just 1.2 points. Both divers struggled to start the third round of dives before El-Naggar and Wayne both wowed the crowd on their final attempts of the evening.

"I wanted to come out and be very consistent with my dives," Wayne said. "I just had to think about my mechanics and keep going with each new dive."

El-Naggar and Wayne both earned the right to advance to the IHSAA State Diving Championships on Saturday morning at the IUPUI Natatorium. Wayne's second-place finish Tuesday night was especially sweet, as the Crown Point junior finished in ninth place at regionals last year, one spot short of qualifying for state.

"I was pretty bummed that I didn't qualify, and I didn't even travel down to Indy," Wayne said. "I thought about that today and knew that I didn't want that feeling again."

Munster senior Cara Leeney registered high marks in the middle dives Tuesday, accumulating enough points (329.45) to earn a state berth with a sixth-place finish.

"These are the meets that matter," Leeney said. "I wanted to be consistent, take it one dive at a time, and then move on to the next one."

LaPorte's Abbi Fryer earned just enough points (321.55) to qualify for state, finishing just 1.25 points higher than ninth-place finisher Leah Getts (Dekalb).

Valparaiso freshman Taylor McBride qualified for the regional finals, but finished 18 points shy of a state berth in her first year of high school. McBride was just outside the top eight for much of the night, but took a lot of good experience for her first regional competition.

"I was happy that I made it out of the first cut," McBride said. "I definitely wanted a shot at state, and I'll be back here next year with some added motivation to get there."