INDIANAPOLIS — Gabbie Meier’s first trip to the Girls Swimming and Diving State Finals didn’t turn out as well as she had hoped, but it will go down as a learning experience.
The Columbus East freshman did not make the cut after the first five dives and finished 29th with a score of 160.80. She needed 182.10 to get in the top 20.
“I think I did (the dives) a little better at the sectional,” Meier said. “It wasn’t my best, but I think I still did pretty good.”
Meier broke her own school record with a 399.00 in winning the Columbus North Sectional. Then Tuesday, she finished seventh in the Jasper Diving Regional with a 359.80 to qualify for state.
At the regional, Meier was at 171.40 after five dives. But as East diving coach Nancy Snyder said, judging varies from competition to competition.
“The hard part is, the judging is different in different areas,” Snyder said. “You can’t always go by one score to another.”
Fishers senior Morgan Casey won the event with 517.30 for 11 dives. Center Grove freshman and Jasper Regional champion Mia Prusiecki finished second at 510.90.
Meier had never been to the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis until practicing there on Friday.
“I thought the facility was really cool,” Meier said. “It was really fun.”
Meier hopes she can make return trips to state the next three years.
“She didn’t do some of her dives quite as well as she has in the past, but she did them better than average,” Snyder said. “Just to think about the fact that she’s been diving 4 1/2 months, and she made it to state her first year, I’m super proud of her. I can’t wait to see what she can do next year.”
