West’s Thomas the new queen of MVC diving

CEDAR RAPIDS – With just two dives remaining and still over 100 points away from a Mississippi Valley Conference meet record, Iowa City West's Jacintha Thomas leaned on an old favorite.

The inward one-and-a-half pike.

Thomas' plan worked to perfection, earning a robust 58.80 points on her way to an MVC diving meet record score of 494.30 Thursday night at Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

'It makes me happy to see how much I've improved over all four years,' Thomas said. 'I finally got it. I was so close last year. By a point, so it was my goal this year to finally get it.'

Thomas executed an inward two-somersault tuck to officially etch her name in the conference record book. The previous record of 486.85 was set in 2006 by two-time state champion Veronica Rydze of Iowa City High.

'I know Veronica personally, she used to coach me,' Thomas said. 'Knowing that she went through the Olympic Trials, it was an honor to try and go after her scores.'

Iowa City West teammate Alex Aaberg finished second with 460.10 points, followed by the Linn-Mar duo of Alyssa Deuso (406.45) and Georgia Sanderson (384.10).

Much of the night was in doubt for Thomas thanks to a recurring back issue stemming from her days as a competitive gymnast. She trailed Aaberg through the eight preliminary and semifinal dives before mounting her charge.

'Been working really hard trying to get through the back pain,' West diving coach Tony Kramer said. 'Last night it was brutal to watch her. It was tough to get through all her dives. We tried to get the minimal amount, tried to get all the stuff off so she was ready to go mentally.'

Like so many competitive divers, Thomas excelled early in gymnastics going back to age five. Eventually, the original back injury limited her ability to run and tumble, which forced a break from gymnastics before her freshman year at West. An older gymnastics teammate suggested she put her gymnast skills to use on the diving board.

'I was originally going to join this team as a swimmer,' Thomas said. 'She just told me, 'While you're there, just try it out.''

Thomas soon learned the same satisfaction she received from gymnastics could be achieved through diving, without the painful bumps, bruises and wear-and-tear on her body.

'I went to the first practice, learned a few dives and I really enjoyed it,' Thomas said. 'I stuck with it, and I excelled a lot faster than I thought I did. After that, I decided to stop gymnastics and do diving because it hurt less and I still got what I really enjoyed – flipping through the air.'

As a sophomore, Thomas placed fourth at state. Last year, she was runner-up to three-time state champion Maggie James of Ames. With the goal of the MVC record now in her rearview mirror, Thomas gets one more chance to best James at the state diving meet Nov. 7 in Marshalltown.

'Winning state would be nice, but my biggest goal this year is to have fun,' Thomas said.

The efforts of Thomas and Aaberg places West in first place with 43 points heading into Saturday's swimming portion of the MVC championships, also at Kennedy. Kennedy is second with 32 points, with Linn-Mar right behind at 31. Eight-time defending MVC champion Cedar Falls is fourth with 25 points.

MVC DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

At C.R. Kennedy

Individuals — 1. Jacintha Thomas (ICW), 494.30*; 2. Alex Aaberg (ICW), 460.10; 3. Alyssa Deuso (LM), 406.45; 4. Georgia Sanderson (LM), 384.10; 5. Kelly Olsen (CF), 349.55; 6. Courtney Fisher (CRK), 345.85; 7. Jayden Lovell (CRK), 342.50; 8. Madison Schoppe (CF), 324.70; 9. Sami Wiezorek (DW), 313.00; 10. Carolyn Simon (CRK), 309.65; 11. Callie Linebarger (ICW), 300.80; 12. Amara Taylor (CRW), 291.20; 13. Ellie Shearer (DS); 289.60, 14. Hannah Hoerner (DS), 237.40; 15. Taylor Topping (DW), 202.40; 16. Jamila Johnson (DS), 177.80; 17. Maia Clasby (CF), 139.45

*—Conference record

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