A seventh-place state finisher last year, Indian Creek’s Ella Taylor hopes to power through a recent shoulder injury and scale the top of the podium this weekend.
Daily Journal file photo
Ella Taylor is a four-time state qualifier in 1-meter diving. She finished 13th as a freshman and earned a medal last winter, placing seventh with a score of 398.60. So it might seem a little bit weird to some when her mother and coach at Indian Creek, Kate Taylor, says that Ella has still never really had a great state meet.
“Last year, when she got seventh, it was a little bittersweet because she didn’t dive well,” Kate Taylor said. “She was really happy with seventh, but she wanted to dive better than she did. So I think we’re just going to go out there and have fun and see where we end up.”
Ella’s got a great chance to end up pretty high on the leaderboard. Having already posted a convincing win at one of the state’s most competitive sectionals, finishing with 460.55 points to win by more than 50, and followed that up with a 467.60 at the Jasper Regional on Tuesday, Taylor heads into Saturday’s state competition as one of the favorites to come away with the title.
Of the six divers who finished ahead of her last year, three did not return — two seniors plus two-time champion Mia Prusiecki of Center Grove, who graduated early in December and enrolled at Ohio State last month. Taylor is looking up at favorites Amelia Rinehart of Fort Wayne Snider and Simone Hall of Park Tudor, who finished second and third last year behind Prusiecki, but she believes she’s capable of surpassing them on any given day.
“I would really love to get top three,” Ella said. “I think I could get first, but I think it just really comes down to whoever has the best meet that day.”
Taylor almost didn’t get a chance to compete this weekend at all. She suffered a pair of posterior subluxations — when the humerus (upper arm bone) slides out of the glenoid cavity (socket) — in her left shoulder during Tuesday night’s regional. She visited a doctor Thursday morning and was put on an anti-inflammatory medication, and she’s going to try to power through and complete her final 11 dives of the season.
“We plan to tape her shoulder and give it her best shot,” Kate Taylor said via text on Thursday. “Her grit and determination inspire me. She is a warrior.”
Ella Taylor’s success this winter hasn’t been limited to the postseason. She scored 445.15 points at the Johnson County meet to edge out another returning state medalist, Franklin’s Camy Quiggins, put up a 485.95 to dominate the Western Indiana Conference meet and smashed her own six-dive school record with a 306.65 in a dual meet against Shortridge.
She’s been favored in every meet she’s competed at so far this season, so the state meet will be a change in that sense — but Taylor says she doesn’t really approach competition any differently when she’s been the underdog.
“I liked chasing people,” she said, “but I really try to focus more on myself than what other people are doing. I’m just kind of over here, doing my own thing.”
This season has been less of a solo mission for Taylor. She’s enjoyed being able to mentor talented Braves freshmen Kendall Guernsey and Alex Pfaehler, who placed seventh and eighth in that loaded Center Grove Sectional with respective scores of 378.05 and 335.10.
“It’s been so much fun; I love them both to death,” Taylor said. “They are such hard workers, and it’s such a fun new team atmosphere — because there is a team now and not just me, so that’s been really great.”
Taylor is different than a lot of divers in that she’s also contributed to her Indian Creek team as a swimmer. She’s been a sprint freestyler for the Braves in most of their dual meets.
“I actually kind of liked swimming the 50 before my last round,” Taylor said, “just because it’s a good way to let some steam off.”
She even swam on Creek’s 200-yard freestyle relay during the sectional preliminaries, helping the team qualify for the A final. The Braves had to scratch from Saturday’s final due to an injury, though, and Taylor was thankful for the reprieve, joking that she “would have died” if she’d had to race after going through a full 11-dive sectional menu.
There won’t be any swims for Taylor on Saturday; she’ll be able to focus on chasing a state title in her final high school meet before heading off to compete at Indiana State.
Saturday also represents the last time that Ella will be at a championship meet with her mother, which will be a bittersweet experience for both. Kate Taylor is likely to continue coaching — not only because of Guernsey and Pfaehler but also because her son Grayson is an eighth-grader who’ll be coming up to the Braves next season — but she’s going to miss the experiences she’s been able to share with her daughter over the last four years.
“We were close anyway,” Kate said, “but I know our relationship is closer having gone through this together as mom coach and daughter diver. I’m just super proud of her.
“She is so ready for the next chapter that my biggest hope for her is just that she has her best meet.”
If she can do so, Ella Taylor could very well end her high school career on top of the world.
IF YOU GO
IHSAA state meet
Where: IU Natatorium, Indianapolis
When: 6 p.m. today (swimming preliminaries); 9 a.m. Saturday (diving prelims/semifinals; 1 p.m. Saturday (swimming and diving finals)
Admission: $10 per session or $19 both days; children under 5 free. All tickets must be purchased digitally at https://websites.eventlink.com/s/ihsaa/Tickets
Pay-per-view: IHSAATV.org ($10 one day, $15 both days)
