HUDSON — River Falls’ swimming and diving Sectional in Hudson featured the area’s fiercest competition, and junior diver Avery Singel stole the spotlight by winning the diving competition to move onto State.

Singel had been battling this season with Hudson’s senior diver Jenna Fullerton, ultimately coming up short in the previous two meetings. This time around, Singel’s hard work paid off, scraping by with a score of 365.80 to take it by 2.7 points Friday.

“Her hard work on the diving board as well as getting more strong and flexible through dryland training is what made the difference as she improved from last year and clinched her spot at the State meet,” River Falls Diving Coach Brady Sievers said.

Head Coach Caitlin Brudzinski has noticed the hard work that has gone into getting back to the top.

“Avery has worked so hard this year. She'd made state her freshman year and then struggled a little bit last year and didn't make it,” Brudzinski said. “She's been pushing herself to get back to state all year, working on new dives and cleaning up the ones she already has. Watching her face Friday night as she realized that she'd won and automatically qualified for State was amazing.”

The swimmers had a day to remember of their own Saturday, logging 14 season best swims out of 20 total swims.

Over the last few weeks, River Falls has been doing what is called taper practices, where they decrease the distance swam and increase rest periods.

“It's never a guarantee that the taper will work for the athletes to drop time, but everyone worked hard throughout and had great energy,” Brudzinski said.

It was a big day for just about everyone in the pool Saturday, and Elise Gulick was the prime example, taking second in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly.

“She is always a hard worker and I'm so proud of her. She had season best times in both of those events and really got up and raced,” Brudzinski said. “She's definitely a leader on our team in regards to performance, but she's also the swimmer who yells out ‘last one, fast one’ as we finish a hard set in practice, who's just as happy for her teammates' successes as she is for her own. I'm excited to see what she can continue to do next year as a senior.”

The other podium appearance for River Falls was an eighth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay. Gulick joined Syd Thompson, Annie Ottem and Kate Widner to post a time of 2:02, which was down two seconds from the conference meet.

Sectionals brought with it the end of an era for the senior class of Grace Hansen, Ottem, Lauren Weiss and Widner.

“All four of our seniors have been swimming on the high school team since they were freshmen,” Brudzinski said. “They have grown so much in the last four years and it's been a pleasure to coach them. They truly are leaders on the team, in and out of the pool. We will definitely miss their presence next year.”

Standing room only would be an understatement to describe the crowds in Hudson over the weekend, as fans and family filed in to catch a glimpse of their squads racing. Brudzinski said the big crowds were felt by the teams as well.

“It's definitely a lot of fun to have packed stands. Because the meet was so close this year, it was easy for our families to attend and it's great to see,” Brudzinski said. “I know the athletes can feel the enthusiasm from the crowd and their teammates and it was great to see.”

The State meet is Nov. 15-16 at Waukesha South.