Seneca Valley's diving program went to the limit this season, literally.

The Raiders will be sending four girls and four boys to Saturday's WPIAL Class 3A championship meets at North Allegheny High School. According district rules, that is the most allowed for any one school.

Matthew Laslavic, Trevor Elliott, Sam Skeen and Jeremiah Laslavic will dive for SV's boys. Kenzie Clark, Meghan Keppler, Rylie Smith and Ashley Felitsky will do so for the girls.

Senior Maddie Montalbano also qualified for the meet, but will not compete due to the maximum-of-four rule.

It's often said that there is strength in numbers and Seneca's strong core of divers helped both the boys and girls teams go 13-1 this season.

“This is my fifth year at Seneca Valley,” said Raiders' coach Nancy Laslavic. “Before, there were coaching changes pretty frequently and we have more consistency now. It's a very strong program.”

Matthew Laslavic's rise to one of the top divers in the WPIAL is a shining example of SV's burgeoning program.

He placed 14th at WPIALs last year and the junior is seeded third entering this weekend behind Fox Chapel's David Manelis and Penn-Trafford's Xander Lentz.

“The last year has been good for me,” Matthew Laslavic said. “Early-morning and Saturday practices, teammates encouraging me and my coaches telling me what I needed to work on.

“I had a feeling I would be a lot better this year, but I didn't think I'd be (ranked this high).”

Laslavic admits he feels more pressure entering this year's meet, but doesn't expect it to affect his performance.

“After that first dive, it will be smooth sailing,” he said. “At least, that's the plan.

“I want to be able to walk away with a spot on the podium (top eight).”

Felitsky is another diver looking to take the next step. In one sense, she will just by competing Saturday. She qualified for WPIALs last year, but did not compete due to four other SV divers who did.

“It's been a pretty good year so far and I'm really excited about going to WPIALs,” said Felitsky. “I'm more patient on the board this year and think I have a chance to do well.”

Diving gave Butler's Dalayne Waterbec another option when her first sport of choice lost its luster.

“I picked up gymnastics when I was younger,” the sophomore said. “When I was in eighth grade, I tore ligaments in my ankle. I came back from it, but realized that I didn't love the sport like I used to.”

Waterbec joined Butler's varsity team last year, qualified for WPIALs and placed 15th.

She's met one goal already this season with a personal-best effort of 217 and hopes to improve on last year's showing at districts.

“Hopefully, I can score in the top 10, maybe even place (top eight),” she said.

“Dalayne is performing more difficult dives this year,” said Butler coach Ken Bedford. “She's only doing five of the dives she did last year and those are the required ones. It improves her chances of getting a better score.”

Paige Williams and Sidney Duffy will also be representing Butler while Maddie Mueller and Kirsten Maybach will compete for Mars.

The top five scorers in both the girls and boys meet qualify for the state meet, scheduled at Bucknell University next month.