This past weekend, two divers from the Homestead dive team competed in the WIAA State Dive Meet. Hannah Tracy, senior, and Lauren Van Vooren, freshman, each placed in the top 25 at the meet.

As a freshman this year, Van Vooren was able to learn from her mistakes and continue to improve throughout the season.

“I think my season was very successful with many ups and downs and I progressively got better as it went on,” Van Vooren said.

The season was very successful for the divers, including Van Vooren and Tracy who placed 2nd and 3rd respectively at the conference meet.

“The season was pretty successful, I had many top 5 finishes in our invites and won several dual meets. I also consistently achieved personal records,” Tracy explained.

Both girls had their eye on the state meet from the start of the season; however, it was a long road to get there.

“State was definitely a main goal all season, [in addition to] smaller goals within the season. I was not sure [if state was a possibilty] because I was on the fence on the WIAA rankings so it really could’ve gone either way,” Van Vooren said.

Similarly, Tracy practiced hard and knew that it would take a lot of work to get there.

“State was definitely a goal of mine all season. I was not sure if it was going to happen, but I just practiced really hard and hoped for the best,” Tracy said.

At the meet, Van Vooren placed 13th out of the top 24 high school divers in Wisconsin.

“It felt really cool being able to compete at a high level in front of so many people from all over and I felt I was very fortunate for the opportunity. I am very happy with my performance at state because it was exciting to be able to go and even more exciting to do well,” Van Vooren said

Tracy placed 21st and finished out her last meet as a diver for Homestead.

“It felt unreal to compete at state. My performance was not my best at state, but the fact that I got there is what made me happy. I knew it was my last meet ever which made it even more special than it already was,” Tracy said.

Tracy enjoyed her season but was sad to see it come to an end.

“State was bittersweet. I was very happy I made it there, but I was really upset that my diving career was officially over. I got to end my diving career with several of my club teammates including Lauren Van Vooren which was really special to me,” Tracy said.