Fredonia divers Elizabeth Pucci-Schaefer, left, and Leah Marsh, right, are pictured with their coach, John Crawford, at the NYSPHSAA championships Friday at the Webster Aquatic Center. Submitted photo

WEBSTER — In Elizabeth Pucci-Schaefer’s second trip to the New York State Public High School Diving Championships in 2021, she just missed the top 10 as she scored 443 points for an 11th-place finish.

This year the Fredonia sophomore was determined to improve on the state’s biggest stage. Not only did she improve her score, but she absolutely crushed it.

After her 11 dives on Friday at Webster Aquatic Center, Pucci-Schaefer amassed 516.30 points to not only crack the top 10, but she jumped into the top five with a fourth-place finish.

“I am very pleased with her performance,” Fredonia/Pine Valley diving coach John Crawford said. “This year she finished fourth, her point total was a 73-point jump. Many of the people she surpassed were people ahead of her last year. The lowest she ever was is fifth-place. It was consistent from dive one to dive 11.”

Since Pucci-Schaefer began diving at the varsity level, she has consistently improved and on Friday it was on full display. Years of competing at high levels has allowed her to remain calm at high-pressure meets.

“Elizabeth has been on the state scene since seventh grade,” Crawford added. “Last year as a ninth-grader, she dove a little tentatively. This year she made the commitment to the board. She didn’t make errors.”

Pucci-Schaefer was not the only Fredonia/Pine Valley diver to improve. Teammate Leah Marsh showed just how quickly the Hillbillies can achieve high goals.

In just her second season diving, Marsh managed to qualify for the state meet and earn a 34th-place finish with 180.30 points through five dives.

“This young lady has been diving a little over a year,” Crawford said about Marsh. “This is a process of growth. She was worried she was going to finish in last. There was one dive she would like to have had back. She’ll be back next year. There is no doubt in my mind they’ll both be back.”

Marsh has come a long way in a short amount of time. In fact, she was not even diving when Pucci-Schaefer competed at her first state meet and now she is already placing at the state meet.

“I think she should be pleased with herself,” Crawford added about Marsh. “I don’t think there is any doubt she will get better with the more difficult dives.”

Pucci-Schaefer used her experience to focus on herself and the dives she was attempting. The focus paid off as the sophomore made the podium with two more years for improvement ahead of her.

“She’s not one to look at other divers and watch their scores,” Crawford stated. “We were hoping that she would be in the top six. I think she knew she was in the midst of it all the way through the competition.”

Now the two Fredonia/Pine Valley divers will transition from the pool to the track and compete in indoor track. Crawford encourages the two to participate in another sport and to dive once or twice a week.

When next season comes around, if the duo continues to improve like they did this year, then Fredonia/Pine Valley can expect another trip to states.

“The number one thing is they’ve challenged themselves from the beginning of the season,” Crawford said about Pucci-Schaefer and Marsh. “They challenge themselves to improve in terms of mechanics and difficulty of dives they’re performing. It was a consistent effort in them to get better, especially in the more difficult dives.”