North diver finishes 14th in regional

BLOOMINGTON — Columbus North diver Grant Fehribach filled in for the Bull Frogs’ top diver, Kaemon Jiles, in Tuesday’s Bloomington North Diving Regional, despite having a cold.

Fehribach, who finished fifth in Saturday’s Columbus North Sectional, was next in line to compete after Jiles, who had won the sectional and was scratched from the regional. Jiles was the regional champion in 2015 and finished second in the regional and 11th at state last year.

North diving coach Lauren Hawes declined to say why Jiles did not compete.

Fehribach finished 14th among the 20 competitors. He found himself in 16th place after the first five rounds but moved up a couple of spots after the eighth round. His 231.25 score moved him up four spots, but it was not enough to advance him to the final three rounds, which consisted of the top 12 divers.

Hawes said getting a chance to compete in the regional is good experience for Fehribach moving forward.

“I think Grant had a great meet,” Hawes said. “He is battling sickness right now, so we could have had a better night, but for being sick, I thought he did a great job.”

Jennings County’s Austin Mills also dove in the regional and finished 12th with a 344.05 score. Mills stayed in the middle of the pack for most of the meet, finishing the first five rounds with a 158.65 score, which put him in 10th place.

Mills remained in 10th place after the eighth round, which allowed him to make the top 12 cutoff. He dropping back two places over his last three dives.

The top eight qualified for Saturday’s state diving prelims at IUPUI’s Indiana University Natatorium. Swimming prelims are at 6 p.m. Friday, with swimming finals and consolations at 1 p.m. Saturday.