All Hilltop High School diver Josh Fischer could do after recording a failed dive at last year’s Mesa League finals was to put his hands on his head and grimace. He knew the competition was close and it was: the failed dive took him out of the championship running.
Fischer had been tabbed as the pre-meet favorite but finished 3.3 points behind teammate Darius Marguet for the lead.
But promise remains. Fischer is once again rated among the top contenders to capture this year’s league diving championship.
“I was kind of upset after last year,” admitted Fischer, now a junior. “Hopefully, I’ll get it this year.
He’s set his focus on one word: redemption.
Fischer’s failed dive was a front double somersault with a 2.2 degree of difficulty. He landed in the water at the wrong angle to cause the failed dive.
He’s been working on perfecting the dive throughout the off-season as well as other new dives.
Hilltop dive coach Kyle Kovar, a CIF champion during his competition days as a Lancer, believes it’s only a matter of time before Fischer masters more advanced dives.
“His progress is getting better,” Kovar said.
Keeping the mental edge is the key. Fischer said he blocks out the crowd when he’s in actual competition.
“I just think about my dive,” he said. “When you’re out there, it’s just you and the board.”
Fischer scored 153.7 points in the Lancers’ 111-72 dual meet victory against Mar Vista April 8 at the Parkway pool. Hilltop swept the boys diving card, with Elliott Osborn placing second with 127.95 points and Daniel Ryan placing third with 91.8 points.
Seven girls competed in the girls half of the event, with all scoring more than 100 points in an impressive showing. Hilltop’s Kennedy Miranda topped the field with 180.25 points, followed by Mar Vista’s Tatyana Garcia (second, 140.7 points) and Dakotah Strother (third, 124.8 points), and Hilltop’s Mia Ballesteros (fourth, 115.65 points) and Veronica Sanderlin (fifth, 115.4 points). Mar Vista’s Kayleigh Becker rounded out the six scorers with 108.95 points.
Mar Vista’s Sydney Smith scored 124.4 points in an exhibition outing on the board.
Miranda is the defending league champion.
All the Hilltop divers are supportive of each other, according to Fischer. “If someone on our team has a good dive, it makes you want to do well also,” he said.
“They push each other,” Kovar explained. “They progress both as individuals and as a team.”
