Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Sophomore diver Shelby Noonan eyes the water as she flips off the three-meter diving board during the duals meet against Iowa State on Feb. 5. Noonan won the one-meter competition and took second in the three-meter dive. She was also one of three divers to qualify for the NCAA Zone Diving Meet March 11 to 13 in College Station, Texas.
The swimming and diving teams — after bonding during recent coaching changes — are now preparing together for the Big 12 Conference championships, which will take place Feb. 23-26 in College Station, Texas.
Though the divers are not always the focus of the team, they have lofty goals for the conference competition.
Despite the popular belief that there is a division between the swimming and diving team, divers Casey Topol and Shelby Noonan said that the teams were supportive of one another and had really come together as the Big 12 Championship drew closer.
“We practice at the same time, lift weights together and participate in lots of activities outside of practice,” Topol said. “We also go on the same trips.”
Perhaps one thing that brought the team together was that both swimming and diving recently experienced coaching changes and adapted to change together. The divers experienced a coaching change this year and the swimming coach changed three years ago.
Diving coach Eric Elliot is in his first season at Kansas.
“We love Eric. He’s a great guy and a great coach,” Topol said. “We are definitely seeing major improvements with everybody.”
Junior diver Robyn Karlage is proof of Elliot’s special touch, Noonan and Topol said.
“It was absolutely amazing,” Topol said. “We’ve never seen anyone improve so fast.”
Elliot came to the University after he serving as the diving coach at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. He is adapting well to life in Kansas.
“I am enjoying KU thoroughly. I’ve been around some good programs, but KU runs this program very well. There is so much support from the University,” he said. “My family loves Kansas. I’ll definitely be here next year, and I plan to be here a long time.”
Elliot praises his divers for their flexibility during the transition period.
“It’s never easy to have a new coach changing things up,” Elliot said. “I’m really proud of the way the girls have worked.”
Elliot and the divers are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to take their new and improved team to the conference meet. Noonan and Topol will be joined by sophomore diver Jenny Roberts in College Station, Texas.
Roberts is a rookie to championship meets, but Noonan and Topol are veterans, and they have set goals for the upcoming meet.
“I got fifth place last year, and I’d like to do better than that this year,” Noonan said.
Topol also has thought about how she’d like to perform.
“I’d really like to be in the top eight finals, and I’d like to score a point for the team,” she said. “That’d be awesome.”
Noonan will be competing in the one-meter and three-meter competitions, and Topol will compete in the three-meter and platform dives.
With Elliot’s new training program, the divers are in the midst of tough training for the conference championships and won’t ease up until about a week before they’re scheduled to compete.
“We are still heavily training until we leave,” Noonan said.
“We still feel the burn after practice,” Topol said in agreement.
Coach Elliot said that the team was still working on some mechanics and drills to clean dives up before heading to Texas. A trip down south means facing one of the most prestigious swimming and diving programs in the country, Noonan and Topol said. Coach Elliot agreed that the Texas Longhorn team was a highly anticipated competitor.
“Texas is a swimming and diving powerhouse,” Noonan said, “but not unbeatable.”
The team will be ready to take on the Longhorns in their home state, Elliot said. Also, he is keeping the spirit of the Border Showdown alive.
“Texas is probably our biggest competition, but you always want to beat Missouri,” Elliot said.
Even with a coaching change and injuries, the team has the momentum for the championships next week.
“We’ve had some injuries that held back from training, but we’ve persevered,” he said. “They’re doing things right and looking good. If they put it all together, they’ll have a great meet.”
Edited by Lisa Coble-Krings
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