Ashton Gerard/MDN Minot High School's Adisynn Widdel (yellow) wraps Olivia Schoffstall in a hug after Schoffstall's 49-point Forward 1 Somersault 3 Twists Free dive during the diving finals of the North Dakota Swimming and Diving State Meet in West Fargo.

WEST FARGO – The Hulbert Aquatic Center fell silent as Minot High School senior Adisynn Widdel emerged from the water. Seconds prior, Widdel had hit the diving board on her final dive Friday in the diving preliminaries of the state meet.

As the judge’s score of 12 appeared on the scoreboard, Widdel thought it was all over.

“I thought that I was cut (from the round) and that I was done for the season,” Widdel admitted. “It was definitely overwhelming, but I took everything they told me and I put it into my last three dives.”

Widdel came into the semifinal round placed 12th, while senior teammate Olivia Schoffstall sat in fourth.

“My first couple of dives were my top dives, so I was (feeling) pretty confident,” Schoffstall said.

Unfortunately, an illness forced MHS diving coach Barb McPeak away from the team after the preliminaries on Friday. She went to the hospital in Fargo with pain in her abdomen and ended up having surgery at 1 a.m.

“It was very hard,” McPeak said about missing the semifinal round early Saturday morning. “But, they did FaceTime me the dives (I missed). It was nice to be able to come back for the finals and be here for them and watch their last three dives of their careers.”

Fortunately, McPeak made it back to the meet for the diving finals that started Saturday at 1 p.m. In the meantime, Amber Westereng of West Fargo Sheyenne, Claudia Schoellkopf of Mandan and Jenny Unruh of Bismarck High were there for the Majettes when McPeak couldn’t be.

“(It was) tough, but we have a lot of coaches from the West and from the East who are behind us,” Widdel said. “Everyone has been there for us and kind of stepped in as being our coach when we didn’t have one.”

Entering the semifinals on Saturday without coach McPeak was challenging, but both Widdel and Schoffstall made it through with ease and advanced to the finals.

“I knew today going in that I had a chance to definitely pick up some slack that I had gotten myself into yesterday,” Widdel said. “I had a lot of coaches that had my back and a lot of teammates from other teams come to me and (tell me) it’s not over.”

Going into the finals, Widdel was placed fifth and Schoffstall was placed eighth. With three dives in front of them, the Majette delivered.

“I’m just so proud of them,” McPeak said. “Adisynn (Widdel) hit the board on her fifth dive and she came back and did six amazing dives and got herself back up there in the fifth spot. Olivia (Schoffstall’s) goal was to make it in the Top 7 and she got seventh so I’m really happy.”

The two gymnasts that started diving together to do something new capped their journey on a high note despite the circumstances. Widdel finished fifth with a score of 383.95, and Schoffstall finished seventh with a final score of 358.50.

“Adisynn (Widdel) and I have been in the finals every year since we first started,” Schoffstall said. “It’s amazing to have such a good friend right here next to me.”