Student Athlete of the Week Izzy Fay

Everything is coming together at the best time possible for Izzy Fay, the lone diver on the Niwot girls swim and dive team.

In Niwot's final meet before the state championships, Fay ran away with a first-place finish at the Longs Peak League Championships on Feb. 4. Her score of 450.85 was about 85 points higher than the next-closest diver.

"This is probably my best meet so far, to be honest," Fay said soon after her final dive at the Mountain View Aquatics Center in Loveland. "But my season is going pretty good."

St. Vrain Valley assistant diving coach Erin Lionberger agreed that Fay's 11 dives in the finals were easily the sophomore's most impressive round of the year.

"I'm super proud of her," Lionberger said. "This is by far her best, most consistent meet of the year, so it's a great time for her to peak."

As Lionbeger mentioned, Fay's stable mindset on the board was key for her.

"One of the hardest parts about diving is when you have 11 dives, if you miss a dive, it's hard to get back up there and get into that mindset to not let it go downhill," Lionberger said. "She hit almost every dive as best as she can and kept that good attitude."

But that's not to imply Fay doesn't take risks. With her final dive of the meet, Fay decided to break out a two-and-a-half somersault in the pike position with a 2.6 degree of difficulty, a skill that she had learned only about a week before the meet. Her score of about an 8.5 average wouldn't suggest that, though.

"She scored about 60 points on it, which is about as high as you'll see in high school diving," Lionberger said.

Including Fay's grand finale, her six optional dives were rated in terms of difficulty at 13.1. None of the five other divers' dives were rated above 11.9.

After qualifying for state last year but not competing, Fay said she's looking forward to matching up against Colorado's best at the Class 4A championships on Feb. 8. Lionberger is optimistic for a strong finish, too.

"I expect her to build off this and have a great (state) meet," Lionberger said. "Our goal is top five for her, and I think that's easily achievable."