Almost all of the spring sports teams at Davis High have large rosters. Track and field leads with 239 athletes competing, followed by the swim team with 96. Baseball, badminton and girls lacrosse each have more than 40, while boys tennis and golf have 30 or more, and softball has 28.
However, if you look all the way at the bottom of the list, you'll find the smallest team with just three girls and two boys: the Davis High dive team.
Last Wednesday, the Blue Devil dive team hosted Jesuit and St. Francis High Schools. On the girls side, senior standout Violet Watts was joined by her teammates Dylan Casterline and Sydney Desai. Watts won the competition with a score of 213.9, while Casterline and Desai scored 110.4 and 44.1, respectively.
Watts knows a lot about winning; she was a four-time national champion on the Davis High competitive cheer team. She is no slouch on the diving board as well, having qualified for the CIF State Diving Championships as a junior last season.
I asked Watts a few questions about her experience diving.
MT: How did you get started diving?
VW: I started diving in 2020 over the COVID lockdown. At the time, I was looking for a sport to do when everything was shut down, and my club was one of the first to reopen. I competed in club diving until I got to high school, when I joined the DSH dive team.
MT: What do you like most about diving?
VW: My favorite part about dive is the community. It’s a small sport, especially at the high school level, so you get to know people from the teams you compete against. I have made some really good friends at dive meets, and I’m always excited to see them.
At meets, everyone is really supportive, and people are always cheering you on, even if you're not on the same team. The coaches are also amazing. I’ve gotten corrections from coaches of teams I compete against that have helped me improve.
MT: How do cheer and dive relate to each other?
VW: Cheer and dive have the same principles of body and air awareness. Knowing where you are in the air or on the floor in relation to what is around you, like the water or your teammates in cheer.
On the boys side, things looked different. With his only teammate, junior Pascal Froenicke, out due to injury, senior Jace Glassberg competed against Jesuit alone. Glassberg represented Davis well, defeating the three Jesuit divers to take first place with a score of 235.05.
Like Watts, Glassberg qualified for the CIF State Diving Championships last year and reached the semi-finals, marking him among the top high school divers in the state.
MT: How did you get started in the sport?
JG: I started diving two years ago. I was introduced to the sport by a friend who knew I liked doing flips on a trampoline and jumping off cliffs while traveling.
MT: What do you enjoy most about diving?
JG: My favorite things about diving are the adrenaline rush, the patience, the satisfaction of getting a good dive, and the confidence and mentality I’ve acquired from this sport.
MT: What are your plans after you graduate?
JG: I was accepted (early decision) to Dodge College of Film at Chapman University and earned a spot on their Division 3 dive team. I am proud that my two years of focused training, competitive results in high school, and passion for diving helped me achieve these goals.
Wednesday marked my first time attending and photographing a diving competition. Despite having just 10 divers, the meet was action-packed. Each competitor performed six dives from the 1-meter springboard, with judges scoring on approach, takeoff, flight and entry; scores were then multiplied by the degree of difficulty.
The event concluded in less than an hour; throughout the contest, Glassberg and Watts stood out with their high skill level and execution. Casterline an... Click here to read full article
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