After junior Chesine Ciota completed her six dives in a meet against Maine South, she left with a second Glenbrook North diving record to add to her resume.

“I just did my dives the best I’ve ever done them,” said Ciota. “I ended up [exceeding] the record score, which was 259, and I got 263.”

Depending on the meet, each diver completes six or 11 dives. After every dive, each judge scores it from one to 10, and the total is multiplied by a difficulty score. In addition to the six dive record Ciota set on Oct. 1, she also broke the 11 dive record at the sectional meet on Nov. 6, 2019.

The girls varsity swimming and diving team finished second in the Central Suburban League South Division this season. Out of nine dual meets, the team won seven, and at their conference meet on Oct. 30, they placed second out of six teams. The state meet is scheduled for today and tomorrow at FMC Natatorium in Westmont, with three swimmers and a diver qualifying to compete based on their performance at sectionals.

As of Nov. 12, two swimmers have verbally committed to swim at the college level. Seniors Nya Robinson and Kamila Nowak have committed to Penn State and Indiana State University, respectively.

According to Robinson, during an intensive schedule of practices and meets, the team still creates a fun and enjoyable environment. On Oct. 8, the swimmers decided to dress up as Jarod Schroeder, head varsity swimming and diving coach. Although unrelated to improving as swimmers, the spirit day was a funny experience for the team.

According to Schroeder, a highlight of the season was the Titan Relays Invitational. For the meet, he did not create a lineup to win but to have fun and allow swimmers to swim events they would usually not compete in. The team ended up winning the meet out of six teams.

Heading into the state meet, the team is working hard to ensure a strong performance.

“My hope is, especially for [swimmers] who have already been at state, that they don’t view that as the goal,” said Schroeder. “It’s not just making state, but going to state and performing at a high level and making an impact.”

According to Ciota, there have been many highs this season, but also lows she has pushed through, including the Evanston Diving Invite on Oct. 9.

“I did a few of my dives not as well as I could so I barely made the cut,” said Ciota. “They cut to 16 divers and I was 15.

“But then I persevered through the meet, and I ended up getting eighth overall.”

In the state series, Ciota plans to focus on both mental and physical preparation.

“For [the state meet] I’m just preparing by working on my mental state, and at the same time getting harder dives, being more consistent and being cleaner in my technique while I dive,” Ciota said.