On Tuesday, March 10, three divers competed in the Division II Nationals in Evansville, Indiana. Ashland was represented by junior Riley Hunt, freshman Macey Wade, and senior Joey Lenczyk.

For Hunt, she is the three-time reigning Female Great Midwest Athletic Conference Diver of the meet, with it also being her third consecutive year making nationals. “Coming into college, I had big expectations for myself as a diver,” said Hunt. “One those being making it to nationals.”

Hunt was able to make it past the preliminary round of diving her freshman year and was then able to make it her sophomore year to the championship, in which she ended up tying for 14 place.

This year, Hunt placed 22 in the one-meter diving, and 21 in the three-meter. After unfortunately not making it to the championship round this year, Hunt focuses on her final year.

“This season did not end the way I wanted to, and that has now motivated me even more for next year,” Hunt explained.

But Hunt was not the only female diver representing the Eagles, Wade qualified for nationals during her freshman campaign.

“I definitely did not expect to qualify [for nationals] this year,” Wade said. “Making it to nationals this season was such a rewarding experience for all the hard work I put in and out of the pool this season.”

At the meet, Wade placed 28 in the three-meter diving, while also placing 36 in the one-meter. But after getting a taste of the experience, Wade is determined to work hard in the offseason and work on her craft.

“I plan to keep working in the gym to build more strength for this next season,” says Wade. “I hope to work new twisters on both one-meter and three-meter for next season… hope to challenge myself to learn some new fun twisters.”

The final diver for the Eagles that was competing was Lenczyk, who is a four-time Male G-MAC Diver of the Meet. This is also his third time qualifying at the national level.

“Making nationals three times and earning four Diver of the Meet/Year honors definitely feels good,” said Lenczyk. “As an athlete, there isn’t much more I could ask for.”

Even though Lenczyk reached the national level, and any award you could win for a male diver, what he will remember from his time at Ashland, was his teammates.

“Coming up from a dive that you hit exactly the way you hoped and seeing the team roar with excitement always brought out the best in me.”

Lenczyk is his final meet placed 37 in the three-meter and 36 in the one-meter diving.

All three divers however gave their success and praise to one person, their dive coach, Morgan Brutcher.

“Her connection with each athlete is so special and shows just how great of a coach she is,” Wade said.

“If Morgan hadn’t decided to come coach during my freshman year, it’s hard to say how my career would have gone,” Lenczyk said. “I would not have made the national competition three years in a row—or maybe even at all—without her.”

“She has pushed me so much and without her encouragement and support I would not have been able to accomplish everything that I have,” Hunt said.

But Coach Brutcher was proud to see her athletes get to the national level.

“I am really excited to bring more divers to [nationals],” said Brutcher. “They go through such a long season to get to that meet, and I love being a small part of their journey.”

Head Coach of the Swim and Dive Team, Sydney Laughlin, was also proud to see Eagles represent Ashland at the meet.

“I am very proud of how the divers competed this year and put up a good fight,” Laughlin said. “Coach Morgan [Brutcher] was very happy with how this season ran for our dive crew and we are both excited for next season.”

With the 2025-2026 season ending, Coach Brutcher is set to focus on the offseason to prepare for the next campaign.

“I want to go back and revisit some of the basics just to help reset the mind,” Brutcher explained. “Find some better starting shapes on the board and entry lines going into the water. I think going into the next season they will be motivated to do even better than they did this year.”

To see how the Eagles did this season, you can visit their stats on goashlandeagles.com.