LEWISBURG — Ava Keller stepped on the podium at Bucknell University, fourth-place medal around her neck, and let the emotions rush in.
The feelings hit Mu’Nairah Saleem a day earlier, as soon as she stepped foot in Kinney Natatorium for the PIAA Class 3A Championships.
One Ridley senior diver had quested for a medal for three years. Another strove for that long just to learn the sport.
Each found nothing but success Thursday.
Keller placed fourth, the second Ridley medalist in as many days, and Saleem finished 11th, third among all District 1 divers at the state championships.
Keller scored 420.95 points. She was second after the eight-dive semifinal and executed her final dives cleanly, but two were of lower degree of difficulty.
Conestoga’s Avery Hillier won with 478.40 points, followed by the North Allegheny duo of Juliet Hood (441.55) and Lola Malarky (440.70).
Keller was 17 points clear of everyone else, the La Salle signee securing a long-awaited states medal in her third trip.
“It was overwhelmingly filled with a lot of happiness,” Keller said. “… It’s been everything. This has been my goal since I first came here sophomore year. I tried last year, and I finally got to do it this year. It’s all I’ve been thinking about.”
Keller finished 12th as a sophomore and was disappointed to be 14th last year.
Saleem, who started diving as a sophomore, made her states debut. She was the first alternate after finishing eighth at the District 1 Championships. But she made the most of her second chance to compete.
Saleem was ninth after prelims. She scored 352.80 points, trailing only Hillier and Keller among District 1’s divers, more than ample proof that she belonged.
“Absolutely surreal,” Saleem said. “I’ve never been more nervous in my life than I was today. There really was no one word to describe it. I was truly feeling all the emotions at once.”
Ridley boasted one of the more boisterous cheering sections on deck, thanks to Tyler Reeve, who medaled in the boys competition in sixth on Wednesday, and 17th-place Kamren Brown.
Their performances helped ease the nerves.
“As a team, it definitely boosts our morale, 100 percent,” Saleem said of Reeve. “Seeing him grow as a diver just from last year to this year has been amazing. Not just him but as a team, it shows that together we’re better and we can achieve great things. I feel like a win for him is a win for all of us.”
Saleem’s method was to block out the noise. Headphones on, music up, she admits not watching any dives beside her own. Keller is more open to the competition around her. She and Hillier shared an embrace after the Conestoga junior knocked down the clinching dive.
Malarky dove between Saleem and Keller, so Keller had a bird’s eye view to Malarky nailing her 11th dive to overtake her.
While that spiked Keller’s nerves, it also fueled her to calmly execute her final dive.
“There was definitely nerves, because she was sitting right behind me going into the ninth round,” Keller said. “But I don’t really mind it. I like watching other people dive. I kind of appreciated it more.”
They also each had someone to share it with. Saleem and Keller, who’ve spent countless hours together this year, stopped to chat on their way to the board for the 11th and final time, with a message that remained ever the same.
“It’s a lot of good luck wishes,” Keller said. “I try to get her in the right headspace, and she does the same for me. We feed off of that for each other. It’s getting each other ready for the last dive.”
