Newtown High School’s divers made quite a splash this fall. Led by senior standout Kari Djonne and her talented peers, the Nighthawks excelled throughout the regular season and deep into the postseason, culminating with this past week’s State Open.

Djonne, regularly the team’s top diver, finished second in both the Class LL state championships and State Open, the latter of which brings together the best of the best from teams among all four of Connecticut’s class sizes. Newtown teammate Gillian Eckwall, a senior, also qualified for the open and placed ninth. Djonne won first place in the South-West Conference championships, and senior Emma Wolfman, junior Sarah MacMullan, and freshman Kiera Sughrue all performed well in the postseason, and helped the Nighthawks earn points in meets throughout the campaign.

In fact, at almost every meet, Newtown’s divers took home the top spots, or even claimed all of the point-earning finishes.

“The divers have always been the ace up our sleeve when it comes to competing in a duel meet or at state championships. We always know going into the diving event were going to clean up and no other team is going to be close to us,” said Zach Gauvin, head coach of Newtown’s swim and dive team.

It takes more than just skill and hard work to succeed, Gauvin notes. There’s a certain resilience that goes along with diving, and each member of the Nighthawk squad put it all together to succeed.

“Their success really comes down to how physically and mentally tough the divers are, and that’s due to all the hard work they put in at practice. I’ve seen all these girls smack the water pretty hard trying out a new dive or trying to perfect an old one. But they always get back on the board and try it again,” Gauvin said.

Ryan Cutler, coach of the NHS divers, was thrilled with how his seniors, Djonne and Eckwall, performed in the State Open. “The way we dove was phenomenal,” Cutler said. “I’m proud of all the girls this year.”

Djonne, in the conference championship, broke the SWC record which belonged to her, with a score of 557.95. By comparison, Westhill/Stamford’s Rachel Burston won the open title with a state record-setting score of 534.75. That shows how impressive Djonne was in the SWC meet.

“I never expected to get the score that I did, but I was just so overly excited that I competed that meet with consistency. I am also so very proud of my teammates. We all motivated each other in and outside of the pool and were always there for one another.”

In the open, Djonne scored a 488.20, 45 points higher than her closest competitor. The University of Akron of Ohio-bound diver will bring her skills to the Division I level, and is looking forward to the challenge.

“I am prepared to be put to work, but I am determined to do well. I am excited for all the new techniques and dives I will eventually learn, but also to be part of another swim and dive family at University of Akron. Everyone is just so incredibly nice and friendly, and that just warms my heart to know I made the right decision.”

Djonne, this past summer, earned All America status with her performance at the AAU National Championship.

“After nationals, I was really motivated for the season,” said Djonne, who put in lots of time practicing in the offseason as she prepared for her final high school season.

“She’s the most dedicated, hardworking girl I’ve ever coached,” Cutler said. “She really fell in love with the sport.”

Interestingly, it’s not as if Djonne has been a diver for all that long. In fact, she didn’t start until the summer going into her sophomore year.

She’d been a gymnast for 12 years, and there is a fair amount of overlap in the athleticism and techniques between gymnastics and diving.

“Once I found diving, I fell in love right from the start. It is the closet thing to flying to me, which is an incredible feeling.”

Although Djonne is very much looking forward to working toward flying high at the collegiate level, she certainly will take some great Newtown High memories.

“I will miss diving at NHS so much. The memories I will take with me to college are incredible. These past three years have been filled with smiles, laughs, and joy. I am so grateful to have been part of a team that I refer to as my second family. I can’t wait to take everything I have learned from my coaches and apply it to diving in college with my new team,” Djonne said.

“It broke my heart at state opens realizing that I will never be wearing a Newtown suit again, as well as competing with this team. I will remember each and everyone of the girls as well as the two best coaches I could ask for,” she added. “What an amazing and memorable journey these three years have been. I cannot wait to come home from college and see how the underclassman are doing during their season.”