Following the District 11 Class 2A Diving Championship Saturday at Emmaus High School, Hayden Slaski wore a black and gold Northwestern Lehigh Diving T-shirt.

Technically, it’s not an official team shirt, but it might as well be since Slaski is the only Northwestern Lehigh diver and the school does not have a swimming or diving team.

When the scores were tallied, Slaski outdid himself from last year when he compiled 309.50 points to take gold, picking up 354.40 points in the 11-dive event to take second place, which gets him back to Bucknell University for the PIAA Diving Championship next month.

Ironically, while Slaski upped his score from his freshman year, he fell one spot as Pottsville’s Adam Klinger also improved on his score from the 2024 championship.

Klinger led after the first two rounds before Slaski posted a 33.60 on his back dive pike in the third round while Klinger attempted an inward dive pike and was awarded a 20.25 by the judges, allowing Slaski to slip ahead of him. The order changed again one round later when Klinger nailed an inward double somersault tuck for a score of 43.40 to regain the lead with Slaski and Klinger running second and third, respectively.

Slaski and Klinger continued their battle, but Slaski was unable to make up any ground until round eight when he received his highest score of the meet to that point with a 34.65 on a reverse 1 ½ somersault tuck, closing the gap. Klinger still held a 276.95 to 249.30 lead at that point.

Pottsville’s Colin Kline was in fourth place but started to string together some strong dives and eventually moved ahead of Tamaqua’s Vincenzo Valentine and into third place as he sought to get into the top two to get a trip to states. Slaski not only held off Kline but Valentine rebounded to retake third place and finish there for the second straight year.

Slaski and Klinger continued their battle up top with Slaski getting his highest score of the meet in round 10 when he performed his inward 1 ½ somersault pike for a score of 36.00 from the judges.

“I was really happy with that dive, I loved it,” said Slaski, a sophomore. “I got pretty good scores on it and felt good during the dive, so that was my favorite of the day.”

Klinger finished the meet with three scores above 36 and saved his best for last, getting a 44.40 award when he nailed his version of the 1 ½ somersault pike to lock up the championship.

“I worked hard and am pretty happy with my results and am glad to be going to states again,” said Slaski. “I think it’s absolutely going to be a little easier than last year as a freshman. That was a big undertaking last season and now, I’ll know a little about what to expect. I’m grateful for the chance to go back and plan on making the most of it.”

The state championships for will be held March 13 at Bucknell University.