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Spencer Bystrom kept the same ritual for every dive on Feb. 13 during the Division II Cleveland State District.

The Beachwood senior donned a robe right until he got to the board for his next turn. The robe seems fitting — because he’s been the king of this meet for the last two winters.

Bystrom repeated as D-II CSU District champion in boys diving with an 11-dive score of 480.20. While not the career-best masterclass he turned in last year at district, a 511.75, it was full of encouragement heading to state.

“It was really good,” Bystrom said. “I was pretty sick yesterday (with a head cold) and today, a little bit of a day off. It felt really nice.”

Bystrom started in preliminaries among a 31-diver field with three scores over 44, including a 46.80 on his third dive, a forward 2 ½ somersault pike. He ended with a flourish in the final round, with a 51.60 on an inward 1 ½ somersault pike, followed by a 50.40 and a 45.10.

Last winter, Bystrom became the first Bison boys swimmer or diver in school history to crack the top four at state, when he was third in diving. He is eager to get one last crack at Canton after a quality evening at CSU.

“I think it was really nice just to have a little bit of a lead there (after prelims),” Bystrom said. “It was nice to see, ‘Oh, I’m on the leaderboard. There’s a little bit of wiggle room in case I mess up the next dive. It was just nice.

“(The final three dives) is how my list has been ordered since my sophomore year. It’s really nice to be able to end on three solid dives. I don’t usually miss those very often. They are my scariest, but it’s a good way to finish for me.”

With his Benedictine hockey teammates and a good-luck banner in tow for he and fellow Bengals diver Charles Malberti, Luke Faulisi was on strong form as he took second with a 437.00, a 57.80 improvement from when he was third as a freshman. His work was punctuated by a gaudy final round including a 46.25 on his nextto-last dive, a back ½ somersault 1 ½ twist free, and then a 52.65 to close.

“This is very encouraging, considering last year I didn’t do as well,” Faulisi said. “But I improved this year.

“I’ve been working on that (52.65) dive for a while, since last year. And it’s just one of those dives that I practice a lot.”

Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin senior Charles Levand took fourth with a 376.25, after taking ninth at CSU in 2018 with a 290.60. Levand is the first NDCL boys diver to break into the top four at district in at least 20 years.

“Pretty much just practice,” Levand said of the key to his dramatic improvement. “Every week, six days a week, for four months this season. I really pulled through, kept it all tight — and that was it, really.”

The US duo of Michael Holtz (fifth, 372.05) and Ian Binder (sixth, 351.15) also secured treks to Canton. Preppers coach Brian Perry said it marks the first time in school history US has sent two divers to state in the same year.

Four area girls divers secured their state spots.

Beachwood junior Amanda Leizman, who missed out on a state berth last winter by 2.9 points, took third with a 419.30. That marked a 65-point improvement from district a year ago.

“It’s really special,” Leizman said. “Last year, I did miss by (2.9) points. It means a lot to be here.

“It’s easy to focus on state or making it to state. It works the best for me to focus on one dive at a time and my performance in each dive vs. the outcome. That works better for me.”

Leizman set a nice tone early with a 45.60 on her third dive and had a strong final charge with a 44.00 on her last semifinal dive, a forward 1 ½ somersault 1 twist free, and a 41.40 on her penultimate dive.

“So that was my inward 1 ½,” Leizman said of her third dive. “And the start is really important. Once I got the start down, the rest of the dive was there.”

Chagrin Falls sophomore Kate LaMonica earned a return engagement in Canton by taking fourth with a 416.30, a nearly 45-point improvement from CSU a year ago. LaMonica went for an inward 1 ½ somersault pike on her second dive to net her best score of the day with a 45.60.

“I’m really thankful that I’ve gotten so much better from last year,” LaMonica said. “It really helps me to get this far as I have. I’m really happy for that.

“I’ve been working those (inward 1 ½s) religiously for a long time. I’m really happy that it went the way that I planned. I just knew I had to throw that as hard as I could. It worked out in the end.”

Also headed to state are West Geauga’s Hannah Zahniser, who earned her third straight berth by taking fifth with a 394.15, and Hawken’s Ariana Khan, who was sixth with a 359.70. The sophomore, a first-year diver who is a converted gymnast, was in seventh heading into her final dive, but rallied with a 36.80 on that dive to capture a state berth by twotenths of a point.

For more from this meet, including Holtz on balancing hockey and diving during the winter, check back in the coming days on News-Herald.com and in our print edition.