It’s easy to see the progress that the Emmaus diving program has made in just one year. A year ago, Jess Hurlburt was a freshman who was untested in 11-dive competitions at the high school level. On the boys side, Andrew Vanim admittedly let pressure get to him in the District 11 Diving Championship, which almost cost him a bid to the state competition.

This year, Hurlburt came in as one of the favorites in the EPC Diving Meet and Vanim has a completely different outlook that has put him past the nerves that he felt last season.

Hurlburt was consistent throughout the meet, maintaining her spot at or near the top of the girls competition throughout the 11 dives. When all was said and done, she came up a little short of catching Parkland’s Kelsey German, who took first place, but she finished a solid second, just 1.75 points behind German.

“I felt like all of my dives were pretty strong and consistent,” said Hurlburt of her performance against other divers from EPC schools.

Hurlburt’s confidence seems to be increasing and she seems as calm as a sophomore can be in her current ranking among the best in the conference and district competitions. She seems destined for a second straight trip to states in early March and thinks this time through will be a little easier.

“I think because my dives were pretty consistent and strong and I have an idea of who I’ll be competing against, I think that helps,” said Hurlburt, who also admits that having Vanim and his rediscovered approach around helps, as well. “We try to help each other and encourage each other.”

As for Vanim, nerves admittedly got to him in the later rounds of last year’s district Championship, especially on his last dive that put him short of a bid to states. Fortunately for Vanim, he did make it into states when another diver was forced to withdraw. In Saturday’s competition, Vanim was battling an illness, but finished second behind Parkland’s Chris Lehman.

With a shot at winning the event on the line late in the competition, Vanim showed no signs of the nerves that shook him almost a year ago. He averaged an award of just over 46 on his final three dives, pushing himself ahead of Parkland’s Jon Hansell, who finished third, just .45 points behind Vanim.

“Last year I really had a bad attitude about everything and things were dragging me down a little bit, so I really just wasn’t in a good state of mind,” said Vanim. “This year, I just told myself ‘have fun with it.’ I always thought diving was fun, but last year, it just wasn’t fun for me and I’m really just trying to have fun with it now. I just feel so much better than last year.”

When he looked around the EPC Meet, Vanim saw no reason to feel pressure. Instead, he just focused on his love for the sport and let that guide him through the meet against his conference competitors. When the Parkland competitors ahead and behind him were announced during the post-meet finishers, Vanim was among the loudest cheers in the building.

“There’s not much pressure, because we’re all friends here,” said Vanim with a smile that was sorely lacking last season. “We’re all in the same sport and we all love it, so it’s just a matter of having fun with it.”

Emmaus divers Drew Stenger and James Mont also competed in the event, finishing 12th and 13th respectively.