New Albany’s Patel takes second in diving
Ohio State commit was fourth at state a year ago
Eager to test himself against the world’s best, New Albany diver Hamish Patel has competed in his native England and Scotland during the past few months and only sparingly entered high school meets.
Still, Patel considers the Division I state meet something special in its own right, especially given his spirited backand-forth with an old rival Tuesday at Branin Natatorium in Canton.
Patel trailed Dominic Roberto of Solon by just 0.9 of a point through five rounds before Roberto pulled away by scoring 63.55 or better on three of his final six dives to amass 600.4 points and secure his third consecutive state championship. Patel finished second (552.45), averaging 50.2 points on his 11 dives, and fended off a consistent challenge from third-place finisher Owen Recker of Perrysburg (541.55).
“It was pretty fun, if I could pick one word to describe it,” said Patel, an Ohio State commit and two-time defending district champion who was fourth at state last year and fifth as a freshman. “Everybody dove really well, so I was constantly being kept on my toes. Fortunately for Dominic, that gap increased, but there’s always next year.
“There were a couple moments where I had doubts, but I kept focused and stayed in the present. I managed to keep going.”
The meet played out as expected in that Roberto and Patel, both juniors,
were the top two seeds entering the competition. Patel placed 11th in the British National Diving Cup three weeks ago in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Patel admittedly had a tough warmup, trying to get used to the board and establish position, but said he thrived on his reverse 1 1/2 and 2 1/2.
“Once he got the first dive out of the way, he was all the way on the rest of the meet,” New Albany coach John Coffman said. “His twisters were really on; those were his highest-scoring dives, and he wrapped up the meet with a front 2 1/2 pike (scoring 57.2 points). He loves that
dive. He’s super comfortable doing it, and that’s why we put it last.”
Dublin Coffman’s Ben Edwardson was the only other area diver to make the final round, finishing 16th (375).
Central Ohio divers made up a quarter of the 32 competitors, up from 24 in previous years.
Dublin Jerome’s Mason Sargel finished 17th (272.75), two spots ahead of Big Walnut’s Aleksander Murnieks (264.4).
Pickerington North’s Aidan Eberhardt (25th, 168.15), Mount Vernon’s Tyler Davidson (28th, 163.45), Thomas
Worthington’s Carson Cole (30th, 157.9) and Big Walnut’s Andrew Boldizar (32nd, 147.85) were cut after five rounds.
Boldizar, Cole, Davidson, Edwardson and Sargel were making their first appearances at state.
In the Division II meet earlier Tuesday, Wellington’s Jack Mccarthy finished 13th (306.3).
Mccarthy, a sophomore who won the district championship to earn central Ohio’s only state berth, hovered between 11th and 14th place for most of his state debut. He was district runner-up as a freshman.
Huron’s Max Wasiniak won his second consecutive title (485.9). dpurpura@dispatch.com @dp_dispatch