Hersey's Johnson plunges to MSL crown

For a long while, diving in the Mid-Suburban League belonged to Barrington.

But now it seems to be Hersey's turn.

When Heidi Johnson outscored Conant's highly respected Kelly Hendricks and Hoffman Estates' always dangerous Katie DeBoo in Friday night's conference championships, it marked the third time in the last four years that a Hersey diver had won the MSL title.

In 2004 and 2005 Hersey's Kate Prorok won the conference title and earned a scholarship to the University of Berkeley.

On Friday at Barrington, Johnson faced some very tough competition, and will do so again in two weeks at the Stevenson sectional. In her estimation, she "hit" 9 of her 11 dives.

"The ones I struggled on, I tried to shake it off and wait for the next round," Johnson said.

Johnson, who won with 383.70 points, was for the most part pleased with her performance.

"I thought I was getting some good rides," she said. "I was standing up more than usual. I was really excited about today because there were so many good divers."

Finishing second was Hendricks, who estimated that she hit 8 out of 11 dives.

"I wasn't playing my game," said Hendricks, who scored 364.90 points. "It was not my best week of practice."

Hendricks and Johnson have met four times this season, and Hendricks has won just once, at the Conant Invitational.

At the Evanston Diving Invitational, Hendricks finished seventh out of 78 divers.

"I took Kelly and (Conant's second diver Annie Fritz) to the AAU Nationals in Florida this summer," said Cougars diving coach Robin Yactor. "They got to see some of the best in the country."

Hendricks expects to be back to her old self in two weeks.

"I just keep practicing on the same dives," she said. "I practice good. But when the meet starts I hit the hard dives and miss the easier ones."

DeBoo wasn't far behind Hendricks with 354.15 points.

"I actually was a little bit surprised," DeBoo said. "I hoped to do better, but after I did my inward one-and-a-half, I almost hit the board. I think that dropped me to fifth place."

The swimming portion of the meet will begin at 1 p.m. today at Barrington.