On Nov. 15, junior Ellysen Enriquez competed in the IHSA state diving meet. Enriquez ranked 12th place with a high score of 182.3 for her 11 dives.
“I think it was a really good learning experience as my first time going to state because now I know what to expect going forward and next time. And meeting the girls there that were my age and I will see next year is a big part of it too, because they won’t see me as intimidating and it just makes it a lot more fun,” Enriquez said.
Enriquez has been diving her entire high school career and has a gymnastics background spanning longer than she can remember. Last dive season, during dive sectionals, she was close to qualifying for state by just a few points.
Enriquez spent her summer preparing for her fall dive season.
“To prepare for this season, I went to dive practices at FMC Natatorium and at the pool I work at; Downers Grove Swim and Racquet Club,” Enriquez said.
Enriquez’s dive coach, Elizabeth Lukes, agrees with Enriquez’s sentiment surrounding her state performance.
“She dove very well for her first experience with a state meet. We are looking forward to her next year,” Lukes said.
Enriquez also broke the coveted 11-dive record, which, is displayed on the girls’ swim and dive record board outside of the pool hallway.
“Her whole season from start to finish was phenomenal. She broke the varsity 11 dives record during sectionals. The record was from 1989 and now her name which was previously on the dive records board for fifth place in eleven dives will be replaced for first place,” Lukes said.
Amongst the girls swim and dive team Enriquez isn’t just known for being a state contender and record breaker, she is recognized as a team role model. Senior Monika Biczek, Enriquez’s best friend and her partner-in-crime at diving points out that Enriquez is not just known for being a state contender and record breaker,
“She has broken the oldest record on the board which definitely motivated and enlightened everyone on the Swim and Dive team. Everyone was very happy and could take away how hard efforts can pay off in the end. She has also definitely shown friendship and how important it is in sports which contributes to the culture of the team because overall we are all about bonding and getting to know and support each other,” Biezek said.
Lukes believes that Enriquez has progressed through her high school career into a successful diver.
“I think what’s really exciting is that she only started her freshman year and accomplished what she did in just three dive seasons. She reached for something [breaking the 1989 dive record] that was on the horizon before her graduation and hopefully she will break her own record next year,” Lukes said.
In this season’s state competition, Enriquez felt that she did not compete with the standards she hoped for.
“I was so upset because I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. It was such a tough meet because everyone was so talented. If you don’t perform as well as you thought you should have at state you think that your whole season was bad,” Enriquez said.
Enriquez placed 12th in the state for girls diving and recognizes the accomplishment of making it to state in the first place.
“I was very sad, but my friend from college said that I shouldn’t think that I’m a terrible diver just because of one bad performance. Anyone could have a bad day, but I made it to state,” Enriquez said.
