Entering high school, West Aurora senior Liz Chollet was looking for an athletic activity to fall in love with.
She became a cheerleader in the winter and participated in field events during track season.
But it was diving that ultimately became her passion.
And she will follow that passion to Division I Missouri State next year, where she earned a partial scholarship to continue diving.
"I always knew I wanted to figure out something to do in college," Chollet said. "I got too tall for gymnastics and I enjoy track, but when I found diving, I could see myself doing it for a long time and being happy doing it. I wholeheartedly enjoy doing it."
Chollet, who will graduate from West with 12 athletic letters, has only been diving for three years. But she managed to set the school record for diving, qualify for the state meet twice and move on to dive in college.
And the person that introduced her to the sport, fellow West senior Corey Buzzard, will be heading to Springfield, Mo., with her in the fall.
Buzzard, a neighbor of Chollet's in Aurora, introduced the whole neighborhood to the sport and will walk on at Missouri State.
"We get along and we work really well off of each other," Chollet said. "It's funny that he's going down there too. He got us all into diving. It's how we picked it up. It's ironic that he would be following me down there."
West Aurora diving coach Sue McGuire has been coaching Blackhawks divers for over 20 years and is more impressed with Chollet's skills outside of diving than her exploits in the pool.
Chollet is a member of the National Honor Society and hopes to study Physician Assistant Studies in college and has been a leader in and out of the pool for the Blackhawks.
"She's just one of these young ladies that you're happy to spend time with," McGuire said. "She wants to be great, yet she's not so wrapped up in herself. She's a great leader. She does what she does very well and it's OK when she's not in the spotlight, though she can hold the spotlight well, too."
It is McGuire that Chollet credits for helping her get the hang of diving in such a short amount of time.
"Sue is a great coach and I've never had a better coach than her," Chollet said. "She's like a second mom. Sue is probably the biggest reason that I'm such a success at diving. She makes it fun for everybody."
When looking for schools, Chollet was hoping to go to a bigger school and wanted to dive. She visited the University of Illinois-Chicago, the University of Illinois and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis before her cousin talked her into visiting Missouri State, a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
"My cousin is going to go there and she told me to look at it," Chollet said. "I really liked it. I talked to some kids from there, talked to the coach (diving coach James Huelskamp) and I went there and just loved it."
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