SCOTS SCOOP – January 8, 2015 – Vol. 15, No. 20 DIVING RIGHT IN An established diver at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School, Allie Vallance of Palos Hills knew what type of school she wanted to attend when it was time for college visits. “I knew I wanted to go Division III so my main focus could be on academics and not athletics,” said Vallance, an accounting and business double major now in her sophomore year at Monmouth College. “I visited four schools and narrowed it down to Monmouth and one other. It came down to three main things: distance from home, tuition and financial aid package, and the athletic department. Monmouth wasn’t closer to home, but it won me over with the other two. The coaching staff and team atmosphere was great and the tuition and academic scholarship program made Monmouth an easy choice. Now that I’ve been here a year, the distance from home isn’t a factor. It’s just three hours.” Vallance, who began swimming at age five but switched to diving as a freshman in high school, quickly rose up the ranks. Her gymnastics background helped, as did a natural ability to equate time and space. A state qualifier as a junior and senior, Vallance broke her high school’s diving record as a senior. In less than two years at Monmouth, Vallance has already rewritten the Fighting Scots record book. She holds both the 6-dive and 11-dive records on the 1-meter board and last season became Monmouth’s first diver or swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Regionals. That’s impressive considering Vallance and her diving teammates – under the keen eye of dive coach Al McGuire – has to share their practice facility at the local YMCA. “I couldn’t have asked for a better coach than Coach McGuire,” said Vallance. “The NCAA experience was special and I couldn’t have done it without him. He’s really patient with me and makes practices fun. It really helps to have him there every step of the way. I was glad to have him with me at the regional last year. It was a unique experience with a lot of extremely talented divers.” Of course, Vallance can be listed among those “talented divers.” Already scoring a qualifying mark this season, Vallance is hopeful to record a mark equal to or better than her best dive this season to return to the regional for the second straight year. “That would be special,” said Vallance of the competition that will be held at the University of Chicago. “Last year’s regional was in Ohio, so not everyone in my family could make it. I’m really motivated to qualify this year since it’s close to home and my family will be able to come and watch.” Vallance has been fun to watch this season, winning all three of her competitions over the first half of the season. Monmouth’s top diver gave the team a preview of what the conference championship meet might look like next month when the Scots competed at the 13-team Grinnell Pioneer Classic in early December. Vallance took first, besting a field that included nine Midwest Conference divers. “The Grinnell meet was kind of my target,” admitted Vallance. “I wanted to win, but more than that, I wanted to do well against that competition.” So what has been Vallance’s key to success? “I treat diving and classwork in the same manner,” she said. “I try to stay organized, plan everything out and focus on one thing at a time. In the classroom I try to give one project my full attention and then move to the next. It’s the same way for diving. It’s one dive at a time. You can’t let a bad dive affect your next dive. That one’s over and it’s time to focus on your next dive. The best part of diving is when you’re spot-on and get in a rhythm.” Now entering her fourth semester, Vallance has found her rhythm at Monmouth. “I really enjoy being at Monmouth,” said Vallance. “I was really nervous my freshman year but the coaches and the team welcomed me in and made me feel like family. Now everyone on the team is my family. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 23:04:53 +0000
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