Pottsville junior Adam Klinger, left, poses with his mom/coach Denise after winning the bronze medal at Thursday's PIAA Diving Championships at Bucknell University's Kinney Natatorium (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

LEWISBURG — When Adam Klinger left Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium last March, he vowed he would work as hard as he could to not only return to the PIAA Diving Championships but win a state medal.

The Pottsville junior challenged himself by competing in various 11-dive invitationals against some of the top divers in the state, learning the tips of the trade and fine-tuning his dives along the way.

Thursday, Klinger put it all together, reaping the fruits of his labor while making Schuylkill League history in the process.

Klinger placed third in the Class AA boys’ competition with 414.75 points, becoming the first Pottsville diver to capture a state medal. It’s the highest a Schuylkill League diver has ever placed at states; Tamaqua’s Amanda Sandlin was fourth in the Class AA girls’ event in 2007.

“You have no clue how amazing this feels,” Klinger said as he clutched the bronze medal hanging around his neck. “All the work that I’ve put in, I’m happy that it’s paid off and I’m only going to put in more. Hopefully this is going to be even better next year.”

Klinger set the tone for his medal-winning performance by getting off to a hot start.

The Schuylkill League and District 11 AA champion compiled 153.75 points over his first four dives, putting him in fourth place overall after five dives with 187.85 points.

“My first four dives I nailed. They were probably some of the best I ever did,” Klinger said. “My fifth dive was rocky, but I recovered from that and my next 5-6 dives were great. Overall, I’m super proud of myself. I’m super happy.”

Klinger surged into third when he scored 43.4 points on his seventh dive, a forward 2.5 somersault that had a difficulty of 2.4. He all but clinched his medal on his eighth dive, scoring 40.80 on a required reverse dive from the pike position that had a difficulty of 1.7.

“Voluntaries are just as important as optionals,” Klinger said. “That’s probably the best reverse dive I’ve ever done in my life. I’m super happy that went the way that it did.”

Interboro’s Caleb Arnot and Bishop Shanahan’s Landyn Snook battled it out for the gold, with Arnot collecting 518.75 points to earn the gold and Snook taking second with 502.50.

Klinger posed for photos and passed his medal around to his Pottsville teammates, who cheered loudly for him along the way.

When told of the historic aspect of his bronze-medal-winning day, Klinger was almost speechless.

“Wow, I did not know that,” Klinger said, pausing. “I can’t be more happy. I’m blessed. That means a lot to me.”

Tamaqua’s Valentine places 20th

Tamaqua senior Vinny Valentine didn’t expect to make it to the PIAA Diving Championships after placing third at the District 11 Diving Championships.

Valentine, however, earned his third trip to states by getting an at-large berth, entering as the 22nd seed. He exceeded that status by surviving the first cut after five dives and eventually finished 20th with 148.90 points.

“Coming into it, since I didn’t even expect to get here … I don’t want to say I didn’t take it too seriously, but I was leaning more toward just having fun and just doing the dives instead of competing the dives,” Valentine said. “I realized when I was just doing them that I was actually getting further than if I was focusing on competing and getting all nervous about it.

“That was nice to do better than I thought (I would).”

The PIAA Diving Championships feature 24 divers, with the field being cut to 20 after five dives and 16 after eight dives.

Valentine’s chances of making the final 16 took a fatal blow when he failed his sixth dive, twisting too far on one of the voluntary dives.

“It sucks because that’s one of my higher-scoring dives,” Valentine said of his failed dive. “I think I might have relaxed a little too much on that one, like I always do that one fine, and then when I opened up my body twisted toward the judges.

“If it’s any more than a 90-degree twist, they disqualify you. It was more than 90, so they DQ’d me. I realized it right away. That’s OK, I wasn’t too beat up about it.”

PIAA Diving Championships

At Kinney Natatorium, Bucknell University

Thursday’s results

Class AA Boys — 1. Caleb Arnot (Interboro) 512.75, 2. Landyn Snook (Bishop Shanahan) 502.50, 3. Adam Klinger (Pottsville) 414.75, 4. Cayden McDonnell (Bishop McDevitt 3) 410.00, 5. River Strauss (Tunkhannock) 387.75, 6. Rhyan Henz (Shamokin) 379.55, 7. Hayden Slaski (Northwestern Lehigh) 375.35, 8. Jake Hauser (Derry Area) 365.15.