With the sports that senior Tori Franzen has chosen to participate in during her time at Squalicum - diving, gymnastics and pole vaulting with the track and field team - you'd think she was fearless, especially when it comes to flipping and twisting high in the air.

But there was a time when Franzen admits she actually was a little unnerved at the prospects of performing above the crowd.

"I was scared to dive in the pool when I started as a freshman," Franzen said in a phone interview. "My friend Anna talked to me into it, and the first time I went out there, I was terrified. I hated the thought of having to jump into this water way below. But I did it, and I was OK, and I realized it was actually kind of fun."

The fun continued throughout her freshman year, as Franzen went on to place fourth at the Class 2A State Girls' Swimming and Diving Championships that year. As a sophomore, she moved up one spot to finish third at state, before claiming second last year.

With Fife's two-time diving champion Delaney Peugh graduated, it's not difficult to figure out where Franzen has her sights set on finishing at this year's state championships, which take place Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9-10, at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.

"There are a couple of girls that have good scores, so I'm expecting it to be a good meet," Franzen said. "It's kind of nerve wracking, but it's pretty exciting, too. I like the pressure, but it definitely makes it more stressful. Who doesn't want to win, though? It would be a great way to top off my senior year."

Franzen enters the state meet as the top 2A seed, having scored 326.05 points in an 11-dive competition. The next best mark in 2A so far this year is a score of 310.40 by Tumwater's Rachel Howard's, while Bellingham's Ellie Kindlund is fourth (276.70).

"I think Tori does well when she knows her competition and she knows her goal," Bellingham district diving coach Taylor Sundstrom said in a phone interview. "She's the type of competitor who wants to know about the girls she's going up against. Then she puts on her game face and goes out and performs. This week, I know she will perform really well."

That's something Franzen has become accustomed to doing, whether it's in the air, where she also is the defending 2A state girls' pole vault champion, or on the ground, where she's an outstanding student at Squalicum.

"I think it all comes down to Tori's determination," Sundstrom said. "It doesn't matter what Tori is doing, she is extremely determined to succeed. When she is learning a new dive, you can see the focus on her face - she just becomes so concentrated and so motivated."

As you would expect, Franzen said becoming a standout diver was a much easier task because of her gymnastics background, which she started building at age 9.

When she came to Squalicum and started diving, not only did she have the necessary core strength, balance and flexibility to succeed, but she also already possessed a good understanding of her body and how to control it when it's soaring through the air.

"If I hadn't done gymnastics, I wouldn't be near as good, skill-level-wise, as I am today," Franzen said. "I think I have much better body awareness. I know where I'm at when I'm flipping and twisting, and where I'm supposed to be."

Those skills also, obviously, translate well to pole vaulting - "just add a long stick," Franzen said.

In fact, Franzen's gymnastics background has made her so good in her other two sports, she's actually planning to drop gymnastics from her repertoire this winter and focus solely on diving and pole vaulting in the hopes that she can land a college scholarship in either sport.

But right now, she's focused only on diving and trying to claim a state title.

And she's definitely got the abilities to do just that this weekend.

"I think her twisting categories make her strong," Sundstrom said. "She knows her body so well in the air. She knows where the water is and what she needs to do to make the dive the best that it can be. In the air, it's tough to know if you're going to come up short or whatever. But Tori has a good sense of where she is and what she needs to do to hold a dive together."

And even before she steps out on the board, Franzen has the right mindset.

"I don't need to worry about going out and doing too much," she said. "I think I just need to go out and perform the dives that I've been doing all season and stay consistent. I can't afford to do anything majorly wrong. I just need to focus on doing the dives the same way I've been doing them all season. All year, we've been practicing consistency, and that is the biggest key for me this week."

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2286.

CLASS 2A STATE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Preliminaries: 9:45 a.m. Friday, Nov. 9

Finals: 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 10

Site: King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way

WHATCOM COUNTY QUALIFIERS

200 MEDLEY RELAY

School Swimmers* Yr. Time (seed)

Squalicum Abby Vonfeldt Jr. 1:57.93 (5)

Josephine Hegeberg Jr.

Olivia Nielsen Fr.

Maddi Dohm Jr.

Sehome Shirley Lam Jr. 2:01.72 (10)

Hannah Holmgren Fr.

Zoe Sheinkopf Sr.

Sophia Carbone Sr.

200 FREESTYLE

Swimmer School Yr. Time (seed)

Madeline Gillman Bellingham Jr. 1:59.19 (2)

Gwendolyn Roley Sehome So. 2:00.23 (3)

Josephine Hegeberg Squalicum Jr. 2:05.50 (8)

Ellie Poehlman Sehome So. 2:07.61 (14)

Anna McNabb Bellingham So. 2:11.53 (21)

200 INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY

Swimmer School Yr. Time (seed)

Hannah Holmgren Sehome Fr. 2:22.36 (12)

Shirley Lam Sehome Jr. 2:39.97 (13)

50 FREESTYLE

Swimmer School Yr. Time (seed)

Maddi Dohm Squalicum Jr. 27.05 (23)

DIVING

Diver School Yr. Points (seed)

Tori Franzen Squalicum Sr. 326.05 (1)

Ellie Kindlund Bellingham Jr. 276.70 (4)

Emily Lucke Sehome Jr. NA

Madi Krussow Squalicum Jr. NA

Olivia Keneipp Sehome Sr. NA

100 BUTTERFLY

Swimmer School Yr. Time (seed)

Olivia Nielsen Squalicum Fr. 1:01.88 (4)

100 FREESTYLE

Swimmer School Yr. Time (seed)

Molly McGuire Sehome Jr. 57.92

500 FREESTYLE

Swimmer School Yr. Time (seed)

Madeline Gillman Bellingham Jr. 5:22.99 (1)

Gwendolyn Roley Sehome So. 5:26.92 (4)

Ellie Poehlman Sehome So. 5:52.27 (17)

200 FREESTYLE RELAY

School Swimmers* Yr. Time (seed)

Sehome Molly McGuire Jr. 1:48.55 (11)

Hannah Holmgren Fr.

Ellie Poehlman So.

Gwendolyn Roley So.

Squalicum Olivia Nielsen Fr. 1:48.95 (12)

Shaye Fowler Fr.

Kathryn Monahan So.

Maddi Dohm Jr.

Bellingham Anna McNabb So. 1:50.75 (16)

Valentina Lopez Sr.

Margot Lewis Fr.

Madeline Gillman Jr.

100 BACKSTROKE

Swimmer School Yr. Time (seed)

Olivia Nielsen Squalicum Fr. 1:04.12 (8)

Shirley Lam Sehome Jr. 1:05.29 (12)

Abby VonFeldt Squalicum So. 1:07.67 (20)

100 BREASTSTROKE

Swimmer School Yr. Time (seed)

Josephine Hegeberg Squalicum Jr. 1:11.02 (5)

Hannah Holmgren Sehome Fr. 1:11.20 (6)

Shaye Fowler Squalicum Fr. 1:16.16 (19)

Leah Day Sehome Fr. 1:17.22 (22)

400 FREESTYLE RELAY

School Swimmers* Yr. Time (seed)

Sehome Molly McGuire Jr. 3:52.94 (6)

Ellie Poehlman So.

Shirley Lam Jr.

Gwendolyn Roley So.

Squalicum Shaye Fowler Fr. 3:57.79 (8)

Josephine Hegeberg Jr.

Abby Vonfeldt Jr.

Kathryn Monahan So.

Bellingham Anna McNabb So. 4:03.48 (12)

Madeline Gillman Jr.

Kaia Johnson Sr.

Margot Lewis Fr.

Lynden Hannah Hollander Sr. 4:17.99 (23)

Annie Uribe Fr.

Shelby Umbaugh Jr.

Sarah Hollander Fr.

*Relay lineups are based on lineups used during the finals of the 2A Northwest District Meet and are subject to change.

SOURCE: WIAA.COM

Reach DAVID RASBACH at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2271.