WPIAL diving: Seneca Valley’s Ali Waters, Mars’ Marin Raible reach states with calm demeanors
Even with high stakes, there’s no use in stressing.
Seneca Valley senior Ali Waters and Mars junior Marin Raible remained even-keeled at Saturday’s WPIAL Class 3A Girls Diving Championships at North Allegheny High School, resulting in pleasing outcomes.
“Putting so much pressure on yourself actually hurts you,” said Waters, whose 11-dive mark of 452.4 finished runner-up to North Allegheny’s Maggie Lapina. “I feel like I’ve been pretty good at not doing that, just throughout my life in general. I think it’s just more valuable to just enjoy where you’re at and enjoy the present moment and making it to wherever you made it. Enjoy that part.”
Raible, who spends time visualizing her dives before meets, tripped up early on “one dive that I kinda fell over on, but I like to take (it) one dive at a time and really try not to look ahead,” she said. “If something doesn’t go as great as I want it to, I just kinda move on from it.”
She did just that, earning a bronze medal and her first trip to the PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium with a 441.5 score. The boys 3A title went to North Allegheny’s Ethan Maravich with a score of 538.95.
Raible and Waters had competed at the district meet before, giving them a sense of familiarity. Raible improved from a seventh-place finish last year, while Waters was fourth at the same event.
“I just had my eyes set on the prize (today),” Waters said. “I was in my own zone and I was pretty calm, relaxed. I feel like I do better when I’m like that. Just listening to my music and dancing or singing or whatever.”
Waters neared the Raiders’ record of 452.9 after breaking her own six-dive program high-water mark a few weeks earlier.
“I’m shooting for that for states,” Waters said of the former standard. “Honestly, I think, at states, if I get that record, I feel like it’s just the gravy now, the icing on top. ... No matter what happens, there is still bigger things for me that’s going to happen.
“I’m not worried about it at all. I’m not stressed. I’m just gonna have fun.”
Raible is proud of her improvement and feels that her hard work and mentality were on display.
“I think the mental side of sports is really huge,” Raible said. “Because you can have as much of the talent as you may have, but if you can’t focus on the mental side of it ... that’s really what separates a lot of people.”
