FEDERAL WAY — It wasn’t the kind of finish Aberdeen senior diver Kai Kawashima expected, but it turned into a medal-winning one.

A scoring adjustment after the state medals were awarded moved Kawashima up onto the podium with an eighth-place finish at the state 2A boys swimming and diving championship at the King County Aquatic Center on Saturday afternoon.

The podium finish highlighted a tough, but fast, state swimming and diving weekend for Aberdeen.

“There was a lot of celebrating when (Aberdeen diving coach) Lee Bunnell received the call,” Aberdeen head coach Rob Burns said. “Kai was really emotional after the finals. He was just as happy after the call. It was a surprising and very happy way to end the weekend.”

Kawashima was initially placed in ninth after the final three dives of the meet on Saturday. It was a tough finish for the senior, whose goal of a senior podium finish fell just short.

The Bobcats were on the road for home when Bunnell received a call from a meet official telling him to come back and pick up the medal. Scoring deductions on one of the divers in the final wasn’t applied and it shuffled the podium spots, moving Kawashima up one spot into eighth place overall with 246.55 points.

“It is always great to see a senior finish his high school career on a high note, but it is just a little sweeter for Kai,” Burns said. “Kai has been one of our silent leaders all season and he is beloved by everyone on the team. The team was just as sad for Kai in the first placing as they were excited and happy with the podium medal.”

In the swimming pool, Aberdeen fell short of a second-day performance. On Friday, the Bobcats’ three relay teams, as well as 100-yard breaststroker Trevor Mullin, failed to qualify for the finals.

The best finish of the day came from the 200-yard freestyle relay, a 17th-place finish that left it one spot away from the consolation finals. Seniors Kawashima and Conner Gates, junior Brice Kola and freshman Russell Bates completed the relay lineup.

“As a team, we swam very well and registered several season and career-best marks,” Burns said. “However, everyone has their best days at state and that’s what happened. This was a very fast meet this weekend.”