The diver for Marshalltown girls swimming and diving bounced back from an incomplete dive near the end of Saturday’s Bobcat Diving Invite and eventually claimed a top-10 finish at the Linda Bloom Natatorium in the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA.

Hauser placed ninth with a final score of 347.60 in what was essentially 10 dives of an 11-dive invite.

She said she wasn’t even sure what happened on the incomplete dive, chalking it up to her mind going blank as she didn’t rotate off the board and entered the water on her back on her eighth dive of the day.

While it essentially eliminated her from top-6 contention and a medal, what’s more important to her is how she responded.

T-R PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER – Marshalltown senior Kate Hauser performs a dive during Saturday’s Bobcat Diving Invite at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA.

“Recently, I’ve been in my head a little bit, which has made me a little nervous,” Hauser said. “But I wouldn’t say I have a lot of nerves just because of the people I have around me. … It feels good to know that I can just move on from it.”

Grinnell junior Camryn Russell, the current state leader in 11-dive events, won with a 475.45 total on Saturday. Audrey Doud and Mylee Dirks of Dowling Catholic were second and third with a 382.70 and 376.80, respectively.

MHS head coach Angie Nelson said the voluntary dive Hauser missed was typically good for about 36 points, which would have put her in contention for that second or third spot.

“While she wasn’t at her best, this was a really good learning experience for her to have to climb back up,” Nelson said. “But it also gives us a good indicator of maybe if we need to move things around a bit, brush up on a few things, practice a few things to make it cleaner. But overall, for missing a dive, it was a really solid meet for her.”

Hauser felt her reverse 1 1/2 somersault, inward dive and front twister were her strongest dives of the meet.

She turns the page now to the Iowa Alliance Conference diving meet, scheduled for Tuesday back at the Marshalltown Y.

“This experience is definitely a confidence booster,” Hauser said. “Even though I didn’t do as well as I usually have, I know that I can do well, and I see what the other girls are doing now and it’ll be good to use their strengths as motivations.”

Nelson expects the conference title to come down to Hauser and Ames’ Lucy York — York was 11th on Saturday with a 337.40 score. Hauser and York finished 2-3 at last year’s Alliance meet won by Marshalltown’s Abby Tollefson.

The Alliance diving meet begins at 5:30 p.m.