CANTON — Samantha Holtz kept her approach pretty consistent Feb. 23 during the Division II girls state diving competition.
The Chagrin Falls sophomore and two-time D-II district champion, 13th in the diving order, went through her visualizations of each dive and envisioned her contortion by the wall between two pillars behind the board right before she dove.
She’d take a peek to see how a fellow Clevelander, Revere’s Peyton Thurman, fared on her dives early in each round.
As far as the competitive part, she has that consistency locked in as well, with two more exciting winters left to build toward a state title.
Holtz took a close fourth at Canton McKinley’s Branin Natatorium with a score of 449.30.
#NHdiving Here are all 11 dives from @cfhs_swimteam†@ChagrinAD‘s Samantha Holtz as she takes 4th during D2 girls state diving in Canton with a 449.30 pic.twitter.com/iwQajcrGZv
— Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) February 24, 2022
With that fourth, paired with her third a year ago as a ninth-grader, The News-Herald coverage area standard-bearer in the sport on the girls side is the first Chagrin girls diver in school history to crack the top four at state at least twice and the third overall. She joins good company in that latter regard in former Tigers’ boys program fixtures Jamie Englhardt (third in 2009 and first in 2010) and Peter Nachtwey (fourth in 2016 and second in 2017).
“It was really thrilling,” Holtz said. “I’m so privileged to be able to compete in this sport with amazing divers. It’s really all thanks to my coaches. I think I had a great set of 11 dives today, and I had a lot of fun.”
Holtz’s best work throughout the morning came on the tail end of rounds.
In prelims, she had a 49.40 in Round 4, a forward 2 1/2 somersault pike, that was followed by a 42.55.
The semifinals was seemingly a spot in which some points didn’t quite come as well as Holtz would have hoped, though, with a high 36.75 among those three dives.
Amid that, the top three — Cincinnati Wyoming’s Grace Courtney, Defiance Tinora’s Lauren Melia and Napoleon’s Mara Cashman — began to separate from the pack, particularly Courtney, the reigning D-II state champion, and Melia.
“Yeah, I think some of my dives definitely could improve,” Holtz said. “But that’s definitely for next year. Hopefully, I’ll be back in this pool competing against these same girls. So I’m excited.
“(The top three’s form) definitely catches my attention. I’ve known those girls for a while now. Grace Courtney is such an amazing diver. I love spending time with her. I’ve seen her in USA Diving as well over the summer. It was a real pleasure diving with her today. They’re amazing.”
Courtney, as Holtz alluded, was clinical en route to a dominant performance to repeat as D-II state champion with a meet-record 519.10. Melia (500.60) was runner-up, and Cashman fended off Holtz for third with a 454.55.
Holtz finished the meet in style, going 50.40 on an inward 1 1/2 somersault pike on her penultimate dive in Round 10, and her meet-best 51.80 in Round 11 on an inward 2 somersault tuck.
“I was very happy,” Holtz said. “It’s actually a funny story. I hit my foot on the board, so it freaked me out — not going to lie. But I was able to come back, talk to my coaches, kind of assess what went wrong and I was able to compete the best that I could on those last two dives.”
Halfway through her high school career, Holtz is well on her way to potentially becoming the third diver from a News-Herald coverage area school all-time to have at least three top-fours at state, with Mayfield’s Joe Cacolici, who was a three -time state champion in 1993, 1994 and 1995 along with a fourth in 1992, and West Geauga’s Kami Goodrick, who was 2017 D-II state champion to highlight four career top-threes.
Her consistency in notable through competition, and it may be en route to more history as well.
“Yeah, I am definitely very excited,” Holtz said. “A lot of good work is due. I’m very excited to get some new dives in and improve my list.”
Hawken’s Cristianna Reineke took 15th with a postseason career-best score of 335.15, and Lake Catholic’s Olivia Suponcic was 22nd with a 138.25 from five prelim dives.
#NHdiving Here are all 11 dives from @HawkenAthletics‘ Cristianna Reineke as she takes 15th with a 335.15 during D2 girls state diving in Canton pic.twitter.com/MfarZQsiWB
— Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) February 24, 2022
#NHdiving here are @lake_swimming‘s Olivia Suponcic’s 5 prelim dives as she takes 22nd with a 138.25 at D2 girls state diving in Canton pic.twitter.com/REuu6Kuis7
— Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) February 24, 2022