GIBRALTAR – Gibraltar Carlson’s Jace Starll reached the state championships in diving for the third time this season.
As a sophomore in his first year of diving, he was just happy to be there.
He made the finals in his second season and placed 13th.
His third try was a charm.
Starll soared to sixth place in the Division 2 state finals at Eastern Michigan with a score of 433.95.
That earned him Monroe County Region Boys Diver of the Year honors for the second straight season.
“Jace had such a great state meet,” Carlson coach Amy Hulderman said. “He had nerves of steel. He’s always been pretty consistent, but at the state level there is so much more on the line.
“All the divers are great. He was competing against some really good athletes, but he handled it well. He just wanted to go out and have fun.”
Having fun was the primary gameplan for Starll.
“The last thing said to him before he started diving at state was, ‘Have fun,’” said his father, Chris Starll. “It looked like that was what he was doing.”
Starll was competing in the state finals against other divers that he has seen and gotten to know through the years, but doesn’t see often during the high school season.
“I got to see a lot of my friends from other schools that I don’t usually get to see during the season,” he said. “I was just hanging out with my friends and having fun. I knew it was my last high school meet. I wanted to have fun.”
It’s easier to have fun when you are on top of your game.
“There were definitely no big misses,” he said of his 11-dive program at state. “That was the goal.”
Starll reached a lot of goals this season.
“I had three main goals,” he said. “I wanted to set the school record for six dives and 11 dives and be top eight at state.”
He set the school record for six dives when he hit 291.8 in a home meet against Woodhaven and got the 11-dive standard with a score of 470.3 in the Wayne County Championships at Trenton.
“I honestly could not ask for a better senior season,” he said. “It took a lot of time at practice in the summer.”
The hours spent in practice allowed Starll to increase the degree of difficulty on his dives.
“We could always count on Jace to get the job done,” Hulderman said. “His slate of dives was much more difficult this year. He also had to do some required dives that are a little easier and he was spot-on with those. He got a lot of height on his dives.”
Starll will add more height next season when he dives for Wayne State.
He is looking forward to competing on the 3-meter springboard in addition to the 1-meter board he used in high school.
“I am excited to learn it,” he said.
The son of Chris and Donelle Starll committed to Wayne State in the fall.
“I was exploring my options for diving and what I want to do, which is speech pathology,” he said. “Wayne State was one of the few schools that had both and it was close to home. It was the perfect option.”
He will be following in his father’s footsteps.
“Originally I wanted to be a physical therapist,” he said. “I went on a college visit and talked with all the different programs. My dad is a speech pathologist. I’ve been around it all my life. I’ve been to his office.
“I’ve seen the impact he’s had on people. That seemed like so much fun. It all kind of clicked.”
Starll will put diving aside for a few months as he concentrates on performing in the pole vault for Carlson’s track and field team.
“I started doing it last year,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun.”
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Gibraltar Carlson’s Jace Starll named Region Diver of the Year
Reporting by Niles Kruger, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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