One jump, flip, and dive away - Lily Nibert strives to be the best in and out of the water

Kaylina Frates

Pueblo County High School is proud to be home to Lily Nibert, A freshman diver who is extremely talented and passionate about her sport and her academic future. 

Lily devotes most of her time to perfect her skill. She consistently shows tremendous promise for the future in her athletic career.  Lily said that, “she goes to practice every day from around four to six, Monday through Thursday, and then I go again on Fridays from 9am to a little after 10am. So I am spending around nine hours each week practicing. We frequently have invitationals on Saturdays which normally take around four hours including warm up time.” 

Lily’s parents have been a huge support to her throughout the season. Not only is it amazing to have such supportive parents but they also seem to play a role in how far Lily is willing to push herself to success. Lily mentions “I have always felt fortunate to have parents that allowed me to know what it is like to have to work for what you want. So my parents have helped me so much in all of the sports that I do., but my coaches as well have always been so amazing to work with. Radiff is one of the best coaches I have ever had and he is a very large contributor to where I am in my athletics. He is so good at pushing me and my teammates so that we always try new things without getting too nervous.”

 Given though she is only a freshman and qualified for state proves that hard work pays off. Lily explains that not only is this a physically draining sport but a mentally draining one as well, “This is my first year trying out diving so my biggest obstacle was definitely just getting started. It was very rough in the beginning and I didn’t really know what I was doing quite yet. Another thing is how mentally challenging this sport is. You really can't let yourself get in your own head or things wont go as planned. But I would say my biggest accomplishment is just how much I have grown and where I am placing in some of the larger meets. I was able to qualify for state within my first few meets which I am proud of.”

Lily's previous sports has helped her shape the diver she is today, knowing the basics really put her on the path to success so the knowledge and hard work came naturally to her. “I have done gymnastics my whole life and so many of the girls that were years above me did diving. I have heard from my teammates and so many of the people around me how easy diving would come for me because of my experience in gymnastics. So since this was my first year I don’t really have many memories of this sport, but gymnastics really has helped me a tremendous amount.”

Lily's goals have not yet been made but one thing is clear, She is amazing at what she does “I have no specific goals for this sport because I mainly just wanted to try it out and give myself something to do. I plan to do this throughout my high school career and to improve every year. I hope to eventually get my name known and to place exceptionally in some of the very large meets.”



    If Lily doesn't show what it means to be an honorary member of the hornet family then i don't know what will because she has put hours into diving after school and on weekends, challenged herself to trying a new sport that she has never done before, and being one of the best divers on the team all while only in the ninth grade.

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