By Sean Fuchs
Central's Mike Greco, Neuqua's Gus Appenbrink and North's Eric Heyson could get one of 32 at-large bids to the state finals. But they won't know until the IHSA website posts the list.
UPDATE: They're in. The at-large list is posted on IHSA.org, and Heyson, Greco and Appenbrink made the cut easily. Of the at-large bids, Greco had the 13th highest score, Appenbrink is 15th and Heyson 19th.
Murray is the top seed. The Neuqua senior was the only diver with a score over 500, and one of only four that had scores better than 480.
UPDATE: The list of 32 at-large bids has not been posted, but after taking a look at the results from all 16 sectionals, the Heat Index feels confident that Greco, Appenbrink and Heyson will all get a bid.
When Chris Murray broke Neuqua's school record on Saturday morning, the senior won a sectional title and secured his place in next week's state finals with his impressive total of 524.15. He was able to spend the rest of the day listening to music and relaxing with his teammates.
"He dove to his potential," Neuqua diving coach Gerry Petit said of Murray's effort that knocked 2004 state champion Aaron Leech off the top spot at Neuqua. "That's a lot for him."
As for the rest of the diving field, it's not that easy.
Greco finished second with 388.85 points, Appenbrink was third with 387.85 points and Heyson was fourth at 379.75. Unlike the swimmers who know if they will make it to state as soon as their time is posted on the board, divers who don't win one of the 16 sectionals must wait until the IHSA posts the at-large qualifiers on its website.
Central diving coach Sam Skramovsky said Greco "should be pretty well set."
Petit was confident that Appenbrink "should be in good shape right now."
As for Heyson, he said he would be checking IHSA.org to see if his name made the list.
"Oh yeah," Heyson said. "When I get home."
The Heat Index will return to this space with an update when the at-large list is posted.
Leave a comment