Christiansburg’s Caleb Hatcher (left) recently claimed first place in the 3A state diving competition, and his teammate Cooper Neeble was fifth. Both competed in the one-meter diving event.
Christiansburg High School’s Caleb Hatcher brought home the gold earlier this month with a first place finish in boys’ one-meter event at the state 3A swim meet.
Hatcher, who is only a freshman, was the top performer for a Blue Demon squad that continues to show improvement.
His teammate, Cooper Neeble, who is only a sophomore, finished fifth in the one-meter event.
Neeble felt Hatcher’s hard work really paid off, especially to do it as a freshman.
He started swimming in 2012 at the age of 11.
“I started because I was not very good at soccer, but I still wanted to do a sport. I tried a couple of other different sports like basketball, but when I went to the first diving practice, I knew I loved it.”
“I started because I was not very good at soccer, but I still wanted to do a sport. I tried a couple of other different sports like basketball, but when I went to the first diving practice, I knew I loved it.”
Hatcher admitted there is a different feel in hitting the water than compared to any other sport or activity.
“I like diving, because I feel like it makes me different, because it is not a common sport, and I had always loved going in the water,” he said.
The diver hopes the sports might lead to a college scholarship. No one else in his family has competed in diving.
“But my three brothers and I go to a pool in the summers and go off the diving boards just for fun,” he said.
On the girls’ side of the pool, Blacksburg’s Emily Slusser also brought home a state title in the 100 Freestyle event.
Christiansburg’s Megan Cummins finished second in the girls’ 500 Freestyle and Blacksburg’s Ethan Apisa was third in the boys’ 500 Freestyle.
Also, the Blacksburg relay team finished second in the girls’ 400 Freestyle (Hannah Jirsa, Laura Hodge, Gracie Slusser and Cameron Seeley).
