CHENEY, Wash. — Competitive diving does not have a particularly competitive history in the Inland Northwest, with most of Washington State's top divers coming out of Western Washington. Cheney High School set out to change that, creating the first dive team in the school's history.
The inaugural team had just two members, one being sophomore Alma Smith. He's been diving for two years, but the '22-'23 season was his first competing for his high school and training under Coach Greg Schmidt.
Coach Schmidt had been working for years to start a diving team at Cheney High School.
"Once Cheney went from 2A to 3A that put us over the hump to be able to get it approved," Schmidt said.
In the team's first official year competing, Smith made a name for himself. He won every competition he dove into, leading him to the state championship.
"When you do something correctly, you can feel it. It's super easy to tell when you do something well," Smith said.
Smith not only dove well, but he completed technically difficult dives that earned more points than other divers. Going into the final dive at the state competition, Smith needed 18 points to win.
His last dive earned him 40 points and first place in the competition.
"I was pretty excited. I had been working for it for a while," Smith said.
The win also secured him the title of MVP of Cheney High School's Swim and Dive Team.
Smith is already thinking about next year's competition with confidence, expecting to hold onto his first-place title.
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