Emporia High School diver Allie Weiss completed her high school diving career last Saturday.

hough nothing is guaranteed in sports, Weiss entered the Kansas 5-1A state meet as the favorite.

The three-time state champion has dominated the sport since her freshman year, when she placed fourth.

Her senior season continued that progression.

Weiss posted a state composite finals score of 469.65. Second place was 460.10. That was the first time in three years that Weiss wasn’t the lone diver to score above 400.

Each year, the degree of difficulty in her dives has increased, and so have her scores. In 2024 and 2025, she registered 451.20 and 453.75, respectively.

Records Became the Goal

But the season’s primary objective wasn’t another state title. Another state title mattered, but the bigger pursuit became the elusive 11-dive and 6-dive school records.

“Going into my senior year, I’m record-focused,” Weiss told the Emporia Gazette in 2025. “I want to break records. I want to leave my name in the high school…it’s definitely going to be a hard focus next year.”

Following Her Sister’s Path

Weiss never thought too much about diving before high school or even when she arrived there. She would have fun informally practicing around the diving board with her sister but that was the extent of it. Nothing serious.

That motivation came from someone familiar – her sister.

Yes. Older sister, Haylee Weiss, who held Emporia’s diving records. Haylee was a three-time state champion as well.

Still, when Weiss reached high school, her extracurricular focus was cheer. But when spring of her freshman year rolled around, there was no more cheering to do.

A void had emerged. She thought, why not fill it with diving. Might as well. The added incentive was to surpass Haylee’s scores.

This month, Weiss accomplished the goal of being a record holder. She set the 6-dive record with a score of 342.70 and eclipsed Haylee’s 11-dive score of 531 with a 535.75.

Credit to Coach Barb Clark

Weiss primarily credits Emporia dive coach, Barb Clark, for much of her development and success.

“If you ask her, she’ll be like, ‘I don’t do much. Allie does all.’ But it couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Weiss said. “I came in kind of already knowing how to do a lot of the stuff, but all of the form and the little things that you need to do in order to score well came from her and her critiques. I really wouldn’t be as good as I am if I didn’t have her as my coach.”

The champion diver said the challenging dives that enabled her to score high wouldn’t have been possible without Clark’s guidance. The longtime Emporia coach stayed patient with Weiss.

“If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think I would be doing any forward doubles or two and a half at all. My freshman year I came in and literally had such a huge mental block,” she admitted. “I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it. We probably went through three quarters of the season and I just would not do it. And then she just kept helping me. She was being very patient with me.”

The dives finally began to click and Clark continued suggesting more demanding ones.

“I got there to the double, and then we did it in pike,” Weiss said. “And then the year following that, she was like, ‘Hey, why don’t we try two and a half?’ I just kind of looked at her like she was crazy.”

Clark’s positive prodding and Weiss’s determination paired nicely. The results speak for themselves.

“I don’t think I would have ever done that dive if it wouldn’t have been for her pushing me…I would be a completely different diver if I didn’t have her,” she said.

The Mental Side of Diving

The graduating Emporia senior spoke of mental obstacles. And in diving, success often comes down to mindset.

“One thing that people don’t understand about the diving world, it’s more of a mental sport than it is physical,” Weiss said. “It’s very, very hard to overcome the fear of doing it inwards, doing a reverse because it’s not something that’s normal for the human brain to be able to comprehend, because you’re supposed to go forward. You’re not supposed to go backwards.”

She admitted that there were days during the past four years when she couldn’t go backwards off the board. Whether it was fear or just not focused, the muscle memory wasn’t there those days.

“I couldn’t even do a backflip because my brain just forgot how to flip. It comes to those parts where it’s like, all right, we need to take a break and we just need to take a pause and we’ll come back at it tomorrow because I’m not mentally there. Barb can tell you too, if you’re not mentally there and ready on the board, you’re not going to get anything done.”

Weiss said in order to be the best version of yourself on the board, you have to be present.

“I’m going on year four and it’s still happening to me. So you very much have to be in the mindset coming into practice or you’re not going to get anything done.”

Choosing a Different Future

In 2025, Weiss said she wasn’t opposed to competing in college. She would look at potential opportunities. However, in 2026, she decided her collegiate future will include cheer only.

“So after high school, I will be going to Cowley College in Ark City (Arkansas City, Kansas)…I am going to be leaving the dive world behind, unfortunately. I’m going to be studying cosmetology and continuing to cheer, which I have a passion for.”

Weiss leaves Emporia with three state titles and two school records.

“I think growing stronger mentally and just knowing that I can push myself and that I can do the hard things is probably the biggest takeaway from dive.”

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