Cedar Rapids Washington’s Ayla Taylor aiming for state diving podium

MARSHALLTOWN — The postseason for a high school athlete usually means things ramp up to a fever pitch.

Unless you are a diver.

All season long, divers are part of a team that works together to win a meet. Then comes the postseason. In the two biggest meets of the year — regionals and state — the divers compete on a day before the actual swim meet.

'It's not like the swimming meet,' said Washington junior Ayla Taylor. 'There is cheering and yelling at the swim meet, but the diving is so quiet and intense because everybody is concentrating so much.'

The Warriors won the regional championship last Saturday at the Linn-Mar Aquatic Center, but would have fallen short without the 17 points Taylor provided by finishing second in Thursday's diving competition.

'We certainly don't win the meet without Alya's performance,' said Washington Coach Megan Lewis. 'She has kept improving all season.'

Now one more 'divers only' night awaits Taylor and 29 others from across the state. The state diving competition is set for Friday at 5:15 p.m. in Marshalltown at the YMCA. The swimming portion of the meet begins at noon Saturday.

Taylor enters this weekend's state meet with the fifth-best score. Not bad for somebody who has only been diving since her freshman year.

'I watched my sister (Amara) dive for Wash and I fell in love with it,' Taylor said. 'It is just something I have kept working at.'

Lewis said Taylor had modest goals entering the season.

'She wanted to score over 400 for 11 dives and qualify for state,' Lewis said. 'Obviously, she has surpassed that. We would like a podium finish.'

Taylor, who wants to dive in college, said she is looking forward to her first state experience.

'It will be a lot like regionals,' she said. 'I will just have to be prepared mentally. There will be so much intensity there and I just have to keep my focus on each one of my dives.'

As for the swimming portion of the meet, it appears defending champion Ames and West Des Moines Dowling will battle for the team title.

Individually, no area swimmer or relay is seeded higher than fourth in any event. Iowa City West freshman Aurora Roghair has the fourth-best time in the 500-yard freestyle while Vinton-Shellsburg junior Arabella Shepard ranks fourth in the 100 backstroke.