This time, Noah Bettner stood just a little bit taller after his performance Saturday at the 5A state boys’ swimming and diving championships at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

“Last year, I finished ninth, right off the podium,” the junior Lewis-Palmer diver said Saturday. “It’s nice to finally get on the podium, and I broke a new personal record of mine, so that was very good for me as well.”

Bettner placed fourth, a five-spot improvement from his sophomore season en route to a school-record 509.35 points. After the first five dives, he led the 38-diver field, but slipped to fifth by the end of the eight-dive preliminary round.

His finish matched the program’s highest finish at the state meet. Zachary Mullins placed fourth in the 2013 event in Grand Junction.

“We worked on a lot this year,” Rangers coach Alan Arata said. “We saw three divers who are better than Noah on a regular basis, but four other divers who were about the same. He could have ended up between fourth and seventh, so we’re happy with fourth. The diving here was strong today.”

The swimming was, too, highlighted by Fossil Ridge, which won the team title with 331.5 points. Regis Jesuit followed with 252, with Cherry Creek (219), Fairview (208) and Boulder (162.5) rounding out the top five.

Lewis-Palmer placed 11th, the highest among Pikes Peak-region 5A schools.

Rampart was next at 13th, buoyed by a third-place finish from senior Andrew Weiss in the 100-yard breaststroke. He edged Liberty junior Josh Lenzmeier by one-tenth of a second.

Coronado scored 40 points for a 17th-place finish. It would have been much higher had the Cougars’ sixth-place finish in the 200 medley relay stood, but officials disqualified the squad after the last swimmer left the blocks a split-second too soon.

One year from now, Bettner hopes to finish his career as a Ranger a few steps higher up on the podium.

“My goal was to break 500, and I ended up doing that,” Bettner said. “I’ll have to start thinking about new goals for next year. I think just overall, I’m a more well-rounded diver this time. That’s why I was able to improve and go from ninth to fourth. It’s nice to see that hard work pay off in the end.”