Preslie Fletcher makes splash in diving

BY AARON PATTERSON Commercial-News

DANVILLE — After an impressive high school baseball season, Oakwood senior-to-be Casey Fletcher has worked his way into being one of the area’s top athletes. The right-handed pitcher even capped his junior season by being named the 2010 Commercial-News Baseball Player of the Year.

His success might not come as a surprise to some, given the family history. The Fletchers simply have baseball in their blood.

But Casey’s younger sister, Preslie, is beginning to carve out her own niche in the sports world, and her most recent success has come in a sport that veers slightly from the expected.

The 13-year-old preparing to enter the eighth grade isn’t a baseball player, and she doesn’t play softball, either. Instead, she has made her biggest splash as a diver.

“People ask me, ‘Why don’t you do softball, because your dad was in baseball?’” Fletcher said. “I’m like, I’m my own person. I want to do diving.”

So far, her future in the sport looks bright. Though no other family members have competed in the sport, the former gymnast took the advice of her parents and decided to give it a shot the summer after her fifth-grade year. And in just three short years, Fletcher has already etched her name into the record books.

On July 24, Fletcher competed in the Central Illinois Country Club Association Swimming and Diving Championships, hosted at the Danville Country Club, and walked away with not only a first-place finish, but the distinction of breaking a 34-year old record.

“I really couldn’t believe that they actually kept records that old,” said Fletcher, who scored a 163, breaking the previous mark by eight points. “I was unaware that there were records, and when I found out that I had broke the record, I was shocked. I didn’t know what to say.”

Now she can say she is a CICCA record holder. But setting the mark didn’t come without a bit of adversity this season.

The diving well and board she had grown accustomed to at Danville Country Club was closed nearly the entire season, forcing her to practice elsewhere.

Along with her teammates, Fletcher practiced at Danville High School with the assistance of former Danville Vikings diver, Morgan Crandall, who filled a void as coach this summer.

“Once our well did get fixed at the end of the year meet, it was hard adjusting to that board,” Fletcher said. “I had been used to all the other boards. I had two days of practice to get used to the other board (at the Country Club).”

At the beginning of the season, Fletcher attended Indiana University’s diving camp with teammate and Danville Vikings diver, Sarah Crandall, where the two endured some of the toughest workouts they had experienced.

From running to pool drills, Fletcher met the demands of the camp, and entered the season fully prepared.

And with the instruction of coach Morgan Crandall, who just finished her freshman season diving with the DePauw Tigers, Fletcher gradually worked her way toward setting the new CICCA record.

With only one year left before entering high school, Fletcher will soon have to decide her future in a sport she hopes to continue through college.

Though Oakwood High School offers the other competitive sports she currently is involved with (track, cheerleading, and volleyball), Oakwood does not have a pool or diving well.

“I’ll continue to dive at the Country Club, but we’re looking at co-oping with another school, or I might have to go to another school so I can be in a diving program,” Fletcher said.

If not, there is still hope she can continue competing in her favorite sport, and would join the likes of Bismarck-Henning graduate, Marissa Clapp, who recently finished a successful collegiate swimming career at University of Illinois, despite attending a school with no team.

The lack of facilities didn’t slow Clapp, and so far, Fletcher is also on her way to being a success.

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