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By STEVE SEMBRAT steves@leader.net
Friday, March 14, 2003 Page: 1C
UNIVERSITY PARK – The leaps were lively. The twists were tight. The spins
were snappy.
And that was just the Bishop Hoban swimmers who were in the stands on
Thursday cheering on teammate Caitlin Neiderhiser during the PIAA Diving
Championships.
Neiderhiser was even better as she used a combination of solid execution
and mental toughness to win a sixth-place medal in the Class 2A girls
competition, which was held at the McCoy Natatorium on Penn State’s main
campus.
The Hoban junior was the top local finisher during the full day of diving
that opened the state meet. Swimming takes place today and tomorrow, and while
the Argents are in great position to win a medal for a top-six finish in a
number of events, the one Neiderhiser won to start that collection came as a
pleasant surprise.
Brookville sophomore Kate Hynes won the competition with 446.60 points.
Neiderhiser had a score of 365.30 for 11 dives.
Meyers junior Dana Miskin, the runner-up to Neiderhiser at the District 2
meet, finished 23rd with a score of 132.25 for five dives. The field was cut
to 16 after the preliminary round of five dives, then to 12 after a semifinal
round of three more dives.
In the Class 2A boys competition, both District 2 entries advanced past
preliminaries, and Hanover Area senior Joey Ruane made finals and placed 11th
with 310.15. Dallas freshman Alaric Eby finished 14th with 215.65 for eight
dives. The 2A boys state champ was Garnet Valley senior Derek Shiller, who won
with 399.65.
“I just wanted to get in the finals,” Neiderhiser said while trying to
hold back the tears. “Getting a medal is an incredible accomplishment.”
One of the keys to her performances is that she didn’t crack emotionally
until after a medal was draped around her neck. Neiderhiser competed well
under pressure in the final round of dives, an attribute that helped overcome
some obstacles she faced going into the state meet.
“She has natural ability, and she shines in front of an audience,” Hoban
coach Mara Pawlenok said. “That doesn’t bother her at all. She loves to
perform.”
Neiderhiser was in sixth place heading into her final three dives by the
narrowest of margins. She led Clearfield junior Megan Wood by five
one-hundredths of one point, and Hampton sophomore Nikki Perella by 2.05,
meaning one slip-up could cost her a medal.
“I saw how close it was because they had the score sheet hanging up over
by where I was waiting,” Neiderhiser said. “That made me more determined to
do the best that I could. I work better under pressure.”
She said it helped to have a comic moment at that crucial time. During the
breaks between the first and semifinal rounds, some of her Hoban teammates got
up in the stands and started dancing around, something that it was hard not to
notice. Pawlenok explained it was mostly the work of her sophomores, who have
a dance routine about their exploits that includes punches and karate kicks.
“That was just our swimmers being supportive, having a good time,”
Neiderhiser said. “Yeah, it did help, it made me laugh.”
Two factors were working against Neiderhiser.
First, she missed six weeks earlier in the season because of an ankle
injury. That’s a long time in a sport that requires precision as well as
athleticism.
“I was behind when I first came back,” said Neiderhiser, who returned to
competition in January. “You could tell that I was out for a while. Hard work
and dedication brought me back.”
Also, Neiderhiser has yet to master some of the tougher dives, a factor
difficult to overcome against the best in the state. The total awards of the
judges is multiplied by the degree of difficulty to arrive at a score for each
dive. While the rest of the finalists were making tougher attempts,
Neiderhiser overcame more than half of them with outstanding execution.
Prior to the state meet, she had once received a judge’s award of 8 1/2 out
of a possible 10 for a dive, but did it twice during the state meet.
“She is very clean and very tight,” Hoban diving coach Betsy Carey said
of Neiderhiser. “Her technique was wonderful. She doesn’t have a lot of D.D.
(degree of difficulty), but what she can do she does well.”
Boys
While District 2 doesn’t have quantity, Ruane and Eby showed there is
quality among the boys 2A divers in the area.
Eby finished first and Ruane was second at the district meet, which
featured just three competitors. The two automatically qualified for states,
where they distinguished themselves in a 25-diver field.
“Just because our district has just a few divers, we’re still good,”
Ruane said. “The kid from Dallas, I give him a lot of credit, he did well,
too.”
Eby was 13th and Ruane 14th following preliminaries. Then Ruane moved up to
make the cut for the final 12. He credited not only Hanover Area swimming
coach Al Mihalec for his success, but also Wyoming Area diving coach Joe
Scrobola, who Ruane worked with during the season.
“They were the ones that pushed me the most,” Ruane said. “I just wanted
to make finals.”