That was the case Thursday evening as two new District 9 League diving champions were crowned at DuBois Area High School.
Both the boys' and girls' runner-ups from last year graduated to the top of the board this season in the 11-dive event.
Brookville's Jamie Hays won the girls championship with a score of 347.90, nearly 40 points more than Clearfield's Jessica Shomo.
"It was a pretty good night. I didn't have anything too terrible so that's always good," Hays said after the win. "I've been having a hard time standing my back double and reverse double up well."
Hays is looking to continue her recent success at the regional tournament, where she is coming off back-to-back championships, along with a three-time state qualifier.
"I'm hoping to do well again there and hit the dives that I missed tonight."
St. Marys' Maria Holm finished third with a score 279.60 followed by Brookville's Sarah Hetrick and Clearfield's Misty Knapik in fifth.
Hetrick, who also qualified for states last season, just missed out of finishing in the top three with a score of 276.55. Knapik recorded a 258.10.
"All of the girls did an excellent job," Brookville diving coach Diane Buck said. "Jaime didn't nail a lot of her dives like she normally does, but overall she had a good meet. She stayed consistent and that's what she needed to do."
In the boys' event, St. Marys and Clearfield combined for the top six places with Dutchman Justin Huey claiming the diving championship with the top score of 333.60.
"I'm extremely proud of the kids," St. Marys diving coach Eric Wonderling said. "I'm really excited to have this happen (first, fourth and third place finishes). Three years ago, we only had one diver. This year we did very well."
"Justin did extremely well. I was really proud of Jake (Burns) too. He started out a little rough, but he came back very well."
The Bisons took four of the next five spots. Elliott Lauder was second (282.90) while Jason Maines was third (273.30). Teammates Garrett Lauder (242.95) and Nathan Brzezinski (216.40) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.
St. Marys' Jake Burns split up the Bisons streak, finishing one point behind Maines for fourth place
Rounding out the competition in the boys' meet was DuBois' Matt Holeva in seventh, who had a score of 201.00, followed by Brookville's Nick Black with 200.75. DuBois' Josh Reed scored 193.45 for ninth and Brookville's Andy Gilbert rounded out the top-10 with 133.30 points.
In the girls' diving, DuBois' Brooklyn Ishman finished sixth, scoring 255.00 followed by Clearfield's Sarah Lowder, who had a score of 250.25, and then DuBois' Stacey Roy with a 232.15.
Brookville gained the final two spots in the top 10 in Shylee Kornhauser and Jessica Williams. Kornhauser recorded a score 227.95 and Williams had a 217.40.
Arah Shaffer, of DuBois, was 11th overall with 167.30 points and St. Marys' Shannon Krieg was 12 with a 156.80.
"I think the girls have done great this season with the limited board time that we've had," Buck said. "Some of them are still working on some new dives. Shylee put one new one in tonight. Jaime's been working on some new dives too to get her grade of difficulty up some."
"Overall it was a great night. They did well and I think some of the dives will be cleaned up by regionals and there will be a big improvement between now and then."
The divers will next compete in the District 6-9 Regional Tournament to be held at the Penn State University Natatorium March 5-6.
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