Volkerding tops field in diving

PERRYVILLE -- Central senior Tara Volkerding established herself as the top local diver all winter, and she continued her dominance in her final high school competition.

Volkerding placed first with a score of 324.15 in the diving event at the Show Me Conference meet Thursday at the Perry Park Center.

Volkerding, who competes in no other events, scored an 8 on a forward one-and-a-half dive to seal her victory.

"It's ranked from 1 to 10, and I've never gotten an 8 before," she said.

No local diver beat Volkerding all year.

TOP: Jackson's Allison Hobbs races to victory in the 200-meter freestyle. Hobbs was the meet MVP. Bottom: Central's Shannon Nuyt comes up for air in her victory in the 200 individual medley.

"She came through today," Central coach Dayna Powell said. "She just has so much control. And one of the things that she does so well, I think, is that she can really press and ride the board. She has a lot of height and that's really a crowd pleaser. The judges like that, too."

Powell said that Volkerding has worked hard during her four years and has had to work a lot by herself to become a better diver.

"When the divers get to where Tara is, sometimes it's tougher for us [coaches] because she's getting more advanced," Powell said. "She did a lot of it on her own. We tried to help her, but most of that is just her practicing, evaluating and redoing."

Volkerding said she really has become passionate about diving since her freshman year.

"I started off as a gymnast, so I already had some of the skills that you need to be a diver," she said. "One of my eighth-grade teachers told me I should join the team, so I did.

"I like the rush that I get when I'm up there. The adrenaline rush when I'm up there, it's just so fun and seeing how high you can get up on the board."

Powell said she showed promise from the beginning and only has gotten better.

"She came in really solid," Powell said. "And then she picked up her back one-and-a-half and a couple of those tougher dives, and she just did the work."

Volkerding is considering continuing her diving career in college, and is looking at Southern Illinois-Carbondale.

As she leaves the Central team, she said she hopes more students become involved with diving.

"It's not a very popular sport around here, but I think if kids got into it, they would like it," Volkerding said. "I would encourage everyone [to do it]."