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Divers don鈥檛 often steal the spotlight at the state swimming and diving championships, but they did this year with noteworthy performances on the 1-meter board Saturday at the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Academy Natatorium.

La Cueva鈥檚 Chloe Ashe capped her three-year reign as champion with a record-setting performance and sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Academy鈥檚 Oliver Mattox not only shared the top rung of the leaderboard with Alfredo Hernandez of Hobbs, but he also helped the Chargers win both the 4x100- and 4x50-meter relays.

The Academy boys also put an end to Eldorado鈥檚 bid for a threepeat as the Chargers won their first title since 2017, while the Academy girls won a ninth straight championship and 25th overall.

In the small-schools division, all teams were again chasing Cottonwood Classical, which won both the boys and girls blue trophies for the third straight season.

On her final competitive dive, an inward one and a half pike, Ashe finished with 542.40 points to surpass the high mark Natasha Dark of St. Pius set in 2015 by nearly two points.

鈥淚鈥檝e just kind of been working on that all year, just leading up to it,鈥� Ashe said. 鈥淚 actually know the previous state record holder, she coached us at club for a year. So it鈥檚 pretty awesome. Yeah, she texted me today and said congrats. So that鈥檚 cool, super exciting.鈥�

Mattox pulled off a rare feat in gaining blue medals in both the pool and diving.

鈥淚鈥檝e swam longer than I鈥檝e dived and I feel like that鈥檚 what鈥檚 allowed me to really up my game,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was really surprised. I expected to beat my score from last year and stay on the podium, but I didn鈥檛 expect first.鈥�

The Chargers, who finished with 356陆 points to dominate La Cueva (220) and Los Alamos (213) on the boys side, had several other athletes win multiple events, which is something that had to happen since they only qualified 10 swimmers, said first-year head coach Jim Van Atta.

鈥淪o really impressive,鈥� Van Atta said. 鈥淩eally, just every kid that made it was contributing, and then we had some really tough, overall performances.鈥�

Soren Carlson won the 50 and 100 freestyles, setting Academy records in both, while Shep Camp won the 200 medley and the 100 breaststroke.

鈥淚 put a lot of hard work into it, and it鈥檚 finally showing the results,鈥� Carlson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing. I鈥檓 a little disappointed because I thought I would go a little faster, but it鈥檚 still a win, so I鈥檒l take it.鈥�

And ending the long team championship drought was gratifying, Mattox said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been great,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 feel like the team鈥檚 just been more connected this year in general.鈥�

The Chargers girls also left little doubt about the outcome with 340 points to 234.50 for Clovis and 230 for La Cueva.

鈥淢y predecessor really set things up nice with a great team, and I have a great staff, the same staff we had before that supported me and it鈥檚 just a tradition here,鈥� Van Atta said. 鈥淪o definitely felt a little bit of pressure, but the kids came through. We asked them to win the meet (Friday) in prelims and get ourselves in position. And they swam way beyond our expectations. And so, yeah, sometimes I just feel fortunate to get to coach these girls.鈥�

Cindy Fan put in a big effort for the Chargers, winning the 100 freestyle and anchoring the 4x50 and 4x100 freestyle relays.

鈥淚鈥檝e been pretty happy with all my results. I think there are some things I can still work on, but overall, I鈥檓 really proud of my team,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur coach always talked about trust and confidence, and I really believed that we could win. I鈥檓 really happy for the team.鈥�

Saaya Bhatka led the way for Cottonwood, winning the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke.

鈥淚t helps when you have Saaya,鈥� Coyotes coach Adrian Gonzales said with a chuckle. 鈥淪he鈥檚 an amazing athlete. She comes every day. Pushes herself to be better. And then it helps when you have just a group of girls that are constantly building each other up. I always preach to this team that we may be a small school, but we鈥檙e trying to build a family on this team. So no matter what, we鈥檙e trying to build each other up, push each other to be better.鈥�

The Cottonwood boys got a strong performance from Roman Rodriguez, who won the 100 backstroke.

鈥淭his was really cool because it鈥檚 three years in a row, wonderful,鈥� he said.

And there could more to come, Gonzales said.

鈥淭his is still a young, hungry group,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey just want to be coming out here and keep surprising everybody. I tell these kids, we may be a small school, but we can beat out some of these bigger schools.鈥�

Dive in and take a look at these photos from the 2025 state swimming and diving championships