A speechless and awestruck senior Colleen Kramer stood upon the first place podium at the Division 2 State Championship Meet. Also on the podium were her teammates; junior Anna Hansen stood on third and senior Nicole Carlson on seventh. With these impressive standings, the FHC dive team was the top team for the diving portion of the meet and achieved their goal of getting their entire team into the top eight spots.

This two-day meet had the majority of the dives performed on Friday, so entering finals on Saturday, there were only three dives left. The FHC divers executed their countlessly-practiced dives almost flawlessly, earning high scores from the judges to secure their impressive places.

“Every year I’ve gone to states I’ve gotten seventh, so they call it “the curse of the seven,a��” Nicole said. “I kept [the curse] going, [but] seventh place was good.”

While Nicole and Anna wished they could have placed higher, they were both happy and accepting of their places. However, they felt pride in knowing how much work and time went into getting to that point and what an honor it was to qualify for and place in the State Meet. Colleen, however, could not have been happier. Even a few hours after she had been announced the winner, it was hard for this Champion to find the words to express her emotions.

“[Winning] feels incredible,” Colleen said. “There are so many emotions running through my body right now that I don’t even know how to handle it. It’s so surreal.”

Colleen’s coach, Jasmine Ramahi was just as proud with Colleen’s placement.

“It’s been an honor working with Colleen and being able to develop her into the athlete and the person that she is today,” Ramahi said. “I’ve really valued all of that time.”

Colleen was also awarded the title of Diver of the Year and Ramahi was named Division 2 Coach of the Year. Coach of the Year is awarded based on the number of points that a team scores in the meet, so FHC diver scoring the highest secured this honor for their coach. While many teams have one or two star divers, it is rare to have a whole team be this successful.

“[Taking our whole team to States] is something really special and I will cherish it,” Ramahi said. “[Developing divers and] building them into state-qualifiers takes time. Being able to have developed these girls and get them all to the state meet and in the top eight is really unique and something to be remembered.”

Another huge success for the FHC dive team is the fact that all three of them earned scores high enough to qualify for the All-American selection process. Having a chance to earn this honor could place them among the top 100 divers in the country.

“My teammates are my best friends,” Anna said, as she demonstrates how close this team was. While the three competed against each other throughout the entirety of the season, they were always happy for one another’s success. This friendship and unity was evident as Colleen emerged from the water after her last, Championship-winning, dive. The announcer recognized her accomplishment, and her teammates were just as happy as she was.

“It means so much to me to come here my senior year and put in my last 11 dives of my life and just nail them,” Colleen said. “To be rewarded for all the hard work I’ve put in for the last four years and take home a State Championship title just feels incredible.”