The Fredonia sophomore will be diving in her third New York State Public High School State Championship today in Webster, but this year is different.

The past two seasons Pucci-Schaefer has been the Hillbillies lone diver to compete at the state meet, but this year she will be joined on the board by fellow Fredonia sophomore Leah Marsh.

“Elizabeth being the youngest of four girls, she’s used to being around,” Fredonia/Pine Valley head coach Joanne Lotter said. “It’s very fun having Leah as her friend, to be able to show her the way. Leah has gotten very good, very fast and having Elizabeth as a close friend has benefited them both.”

While Pucci-Schaefer’s success on the board has become an expectation after four straight years of qualifying for the state meet, Marsh is just beginning to turn heads with her performances. When Pucci-Schaefer was finding success at the varsity level, Marsh had yet to even begin her diving career.

Submitted Photo Fredonia’s Elizabeth Pucci-Schaefer, left, and Leah Marsh both will compete in the New York State Public High School Swimming and Diving Championships today at Webster Aquatic Center.

“Elizabeth brought her on,” Lotter said about Marsh transitioning from gymnastics to diving. “She has made the transition under diving coach John Crawford. Leah will often be very hard on herself and compare herself to Elizabeth, but we tell her it’s only her second year and to look how far she has come.”

Even though the duo are the same age, they’re both at different stages in their careers. Marsh is where Pucci-Schaefer was at in her first state meet and now Pucci-Schaefer is one of the top ranked divers in the entire state.

“I think they’re feeling confident,” Fredonia/Pine Valley diving coach John Crawford stated. “They’re both in two different situations, Elizabeth has been here since 7th grade and Leah it’s her first encounter. I think both of them will do well. I’m not so concerned with the place they are in and where they will finish. If they perform well then I will be very pleased.”

Pucci-Schaefer is currently the fourth ranked diver in the state after qualifying with a score of 561.75, trailing only Section VIII’s Victoria Wang of Manhasset with 604.35, Section V’s Sophie Meuwissen of Fairport with 571.75 and Section VIII’s Rachel Yang of Jericho with 564.60.

“She is unbelievably stable,” Lotter stated about Pucci-Schaefer. “She really focuses on one meet and one dive at a time. She has had several coaches help with her training, I think that has helped a lot. She is going into this state meet very confident, she’s really geared for a very high ranking.”

In 2021, Pucci-Schaefer just missed out on the top 10 with an 11th place finish, but with her current ranking the expectations are high for the Section VI champion. Since last year’s meet, Pucci-Schaefer has competed in several high level meets at the AAU level and has been training to improve herself every day.

“Last year she finished in 11th place,” Crawford said about Pucci-Schaefer. “This year there is a good chance she will finish a lot higher. She has certainly improved in the degree of difficulty of dive she does on the board.”

Pucci-Schaefer has not been alone in her quest to improve, Fredonia/Pine Valley teammate Marsh even joined her in competing this summer at the AAU Diving National Championships in San Antonio, Texas. At that meet the duo competed against some of the best divers in the entire country, so the nerves of competing at states for the first time may not be as high.

“Except for going to San Antonio, this is the biggest stage she’s been on,” Crawford said about Marsh. “Each time she has grown and that’s the most important thing. She’s very inexperienced compared to these other divers she will be on the board with. It’s an opportunity to grow and I think she’s up for the task.”

Marsh’s qualifying score of 467.40 is the 27th best score coming into the competition. Due to her inexperience in the sport, Marsh’s improvement has been much more noticeable after a 14th place finish at last year’s state qualifiers, her 467.40 points were good for fourth in Section VI.

“They’re both easy to work with,” Crawford added about Pucci-Schaefer and Marsh. “They have been a pleasure to coach. They have developed a very close friendship over the past year or so. They have done a great job supporting each other and they have fun with each other, too.”

Despite both divers being at two different spots in their careers, one thing in common is that they both will look to have their best performances of the season this afternoon at the Webster Aquatic Center.

“I’m sure there is nerves, they’re excited,” Lotter said about the duo. “But I truly believe they’re very prepared for the stage and the competition. Elizabeth being there two times before, she knows what to expect and she has done a nice job as a teammate and friend to help Leah prepare for this.”