Liberty senior Keller Pooley couldn’t stop smiling after being crowned District XI Class 3A diving champion on Feb. 25 at Emmaus High School.

“I came in really optimistic, and I think that helped me do good,” Pooley said.

In the previous two Eastern Pennsylvania Conference diving meets, Pooley finished a close second to Easton’s Madison Cunard.

“We really focused on perfecting where her feet were on the board, where her hands were together in the air, and going into the water, so we worked on some of that finer tuning stuff,” said Liberty diving coach Emily Kocis. “At the same time, trying not to readjust too much to throw her off but making sure that her arm swings were at full speed but not too fast and keeping her calm.”

Pooley’s dives were front one-and-a-half, front double tuck, inward one-and-a-half tuck, reverse dive pike, back one-and-a-half tuck, and back one-and-a-half twist.

“All of them were my best. I don’t think I had a bad dive,” she said. “I’m just really excited. I’ve been hoping for this since the beginning of the season, and the fact that it happened is crazy.”

Pooley finished the district meet with a total score of 233.10.

Cunard placed second with 217.80 points, Freedom’s Hayden Taylor came in third with 190.05 points, and Northampton’s Isabella Kish was fourth with 189.85 points.

While Pooley was all smiles, Taylor, a freshman, jumped up and down after completing her final dive, a reverse dive pike, her best dive confirmed by Freedom diving coach Mark Parry, who continually fist pumped across the pool deck.

“We were saving the best for last, and she ended up pulling it out at the end. It was awesome to see,” Coach Parry said. “It was a very close meet between Hayden and [Isabella Kish] from Northampton that came down to the wire, so when it all came together and she ended up getting the third place medal, there was a lot of emotion.”

Taylor’s dives were inward dive pike, inward one-and-a-half tuck, back somersault straight, forward double pike, forward one somersault full twist, and reverse dive pike.

“Coming in, I knew I had a lot of tough competition,” said Taylor. “I give so much credit to Bella Kish from Northampton. She’s a great competitor and kept me pushing throughout the whole meet. I knew I had to hit my dives. I think, overall, all my dives were the best that I’ve done.”

The district meet was also a first for Parry in a coaching role.

“It was very key that she started off very strong, and her first two dives were the best starting two dives I’ve seen her do this whole season,” he said.

Pooley and Cunard will compete in the PIAA Class 3A Diving Championship in March at Bucknell University.