The Milan News-Leader
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Milan diver on his way to state meet
After two near misses, Schmitt grabs top-10 finish at regionals
By Jerry Hinnen, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 8, 2007
For two straight seasons, Milan diver Cody Schmitt came as close as you can come to qualifying for the Division 2 state meet without doing so.
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Needing to finish in 12th place or better at the diving regional competition, Schmitt finished 13th in both 2005 and 2006.
Now a senior, Schmitt had one last chance in 2007. And Tuesday night he made the most of it, taking 10th place at regionals to advance to this weekend's state meet for the first time.
"It's awesome. It's the best feeling I've had all season," Schmitt said about hearing his name announced as one of the state qualifiers. "I was nervous, especially after being 13th the last two years."
"I couldn't be happier for him," said Milan diving coach Josh Baumer. "He missed by two points two years ago and by a half-point last year. There's not a kid who deserves it more."
There was even more drama than usual surrounding the final standings after the computerized scoring system at Bloomfield Hills-Andover failed and scores had to be tabulated by hand. The divers were then left in the dark as to where they stood until the final announcement was made at the conclusion of the competition.
Making things even more nerve-racking for Schmitt was that he had not had a perfect night and that the competition was stiffer than he expected.
"Last year, a lot of the guys in front of me were seniors, so I thought I had it in the bag," he said. "But it was still hard. There were a lot of new guys."
But Schmitt had done enough even in the face of the stiffer competition.
"I nailed a lot of my required dives," Schmitt said. "I made 30 points or more on each of those. So all I had to do was do OK on the rest."
"He was a touch off," Baumer said, "but he was scoring 6's and 6.5's on his required dives."
The result was a final score of 291 points and the long-awaited berth in the state meet, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Oakland University. Baumer says that after the long wait to get there, Schmitt should be more than ready.
"If he can avoid nerves on Friday," he said, "he should do quite well."
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