BUTLER TWP — At Christmas time, sophomore Jon Hansotte wasn’t even on the Butler High School diving team.

He became a late present for longtime coach Ken Bedford.

“He called me a few weeks ago wanting to try out,” Bedford recalled. “We needed another boy on the team, so I figured, why not?

“You could see the raw talent the first time he stepped on the board at practice.”

Hansotte had attended some diving clinics years ago and attended a local gymnastics club until age 10. He had just never pursued diving.

“We started taking swimming in gym class and I was up on the board doing a couple of dives,” Hansotte said. “I felt like I could do some things and wanted to give it a try.

“That’s when I called the coach.”

That was in early January.

Six weeks later, Hansotte qualified for Saturday’s WPIAL meet.

“To do that after only six weeks is amazing,” Bedford said. “My first year as coach here, Nate Rhodaberger had a brother and sister on the team and was talked into joining up late. He didn’t qualify for the WPIALs, though.

“It’s hard for an experienced diver to qualify, let alone someone who just joined the team. I’ve never seen a kid do what Jon has done in so short a period of time.”

It appeared Hansotte would not reach the WPIAL meet despite a fairly quick start.

“I adjusted to things pretty quickly,” he said. “Coach Bedford started me off with some straight jumps, but I was doing one-and-a half’s by the end of the first practice. I kept improving from there.”

Still, through his first four meets, Hansotte’s highest score was a 163. A 175 was the low qualifying standard for the WPIAL meet.

In Butler’s final regular season meet of the season — a home dual against Seneca Valley — Hansotte came up with a 187.

“I hit all of my dives. Everything just clicked that day,” he said.

Now he’s going up against the best in the WPIAL — and is a realist about it.

“This competition is going to be very difficult,” Hansotte said. “I don’t expect to get through to the state meet. All I want to do is perform well and see how I stack up to the competition.

“High school competition is a lot different than just climbing up on to the board and jumping off. It’s vert quiet and you know all eyes on you. It becomes a matter of concentration.”

Bedford won’t rule out anything Saturday.

“What he’s done in five meets has been pretty incredible,” Bedford said. “We had him for a week or two and he was able to compete.

“Jon’s got natural athletic ability. Like anyone else ... If he goes out there and hits his dives, anything can happen.”

Also a pitcher on the baseball team, Hansotte isn’t counting on any major achievements in diving down the road.

“If it ends up taking me somewhere, I’ll gladly go with it,” he said. “But, yeah, I wish I had gone out for the team a lot earlier. I’d be a lot farther along than I am now.

“I’ve got two years to go after this one. I’ll stay with it because I’m curious to see how good I can get at this.”