BLOOMINGTON
Franklin diver Gauge Creech has competed in the diving regional all three of his high school years, but this is the first time the junior has ever won the regional title.
Creech was trailing the defending champion, Devin Ramsey, of Seymour, by nearly 10 points at the end of the fifth round, but had a 7.55 lead on him heading into the final three rounds. He won the regional with a 436.55 and Ramsey followed behind with a 415.05.
The top eight finishers advance to the state meet at IUPUI in Indianapolis on Saturday.
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“I feel like I started off a little bit slow, but then I did what I needed to do and I pulled my last six (dives) together pretty well, I thought,” Creech said. “It feels really good, because the last two years it’s been one of my slower meets, and I feel like I was actually able to pull all my dives together.”
Creech placed ninth in last year’s state meet and is aiming for a top-eight finish this season. One of the things that he will be working on to make that happen between now and Saturday is cleaning up his diving entries. Franklin diving coach Ty Hoffman is confident that he will do will at state.
“We’re going to go back over the next couple of days, there are a couple of things that we’re going to work on and correct,” Hoffman said. “But I feel like he should have a really good state meet, and we’re hoping for a podium finish.”
