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Fourth Time is the Charm for Loeffert
March 11, 2008
MEADVILLE, Pa. – For Allegheny College senior diver Jayson Loeffert, the fourth time is the charm, as the Gibsonia, Pa. native and Pine-Richland High School graduate has qualified for the NCAA Division III National Championships in Oxford, Ohio in his fourth and final opportunity.
“I’m very excited,” said Loeffert. “I waited around last year before finding out the disappointing news of not qualifying. It is starting to sink in now; I’m very excited while also being a little anxious.”
Loeffert, a seven-time All-NCAC diver, took second on the one-meter board at the North Coast Athletic Conference meet last season, while winning the three-meter board, but missed out on Diver of the Year honors, awarded to rival Stephen Julka of Denison. That season, Jayson met the NCAA Championships minimum diving score; however, in diving, qualifiers are required to send a tape of one of their competitions to be re-judged, and then allowed into the meet based on that score, but his total missed sending him to the Championships in Houston, Texas.
“The way it worked out, I had to wait around for two weeks after we sent in the initial tape,” said the senior. “On the Friday the list was supposed to be posted, I kept checking the website every hour trying to see if I had made the final list. I came into practice the day the list was supposed to be posted, but I couldn’t practice – I was too anxious. Then the next day, Saturday, I had a practice MCAT test and it was difficult to take because I hadn’t heard any news yet. I didn’t score nearly what I was hoping to.”
With the disappointment behind him, Loeffert set his sights on the 2008 championships, and working towards getting to the national meet. At this season’s NCAC Championships, he exerted his dominance, winning on the three-meter board and placing second on the one-meter, taking Diver of the Year honors away from Julka, a three-time winner of the award, who placed third on the three-meter board and first on the one-meter.
“Winning the award feels amazing,” said the senior. “There had been a couple of close years between myself and Stephen, where he had won the honor; to walk away with it in my last chance is a very sweet feeling.”
Loeffert is far from the first Allegheny College diver to go to the national meet, as the diving program has a history of strong individual performers; nine separate men’s divers have earned a total of 41 All-America honors. He understands the history of the program, and wants to etch his name into the Allegheny record books. “Looking through our media guide the other day, I noticed John Hreha (five-time All-American) was our last diver to win NCAC Diver of the Year,” said Loeffert. “It feels great to bring that tradition back, and represent Allegheny swimming and diving at the national level.”
For now, it is back to work for the senior, as his practice regimen has not changed since the first day of practice this fall. “I just have to keep up the practices the way that I have been,” noted Loeffert. “It will be hard to try to keep my nerves down and treat this like any other meet – even though this competition isn’t like any other. This one will be with the best divers from throughout the country.”
Loeffert would be remiss if he did not mention the coaches that helped get him to where he is today. “Keith Hart, got me started in diving during my high school years, and really kept me after it. Once I got here, Coach Erdos got me up on the three-meter board, and the current diving coach, Fred Evanoff has now carried me to where I am right now. I want to thank all of them for all of their hard work in helping me become the best diver possible.”
Additionally, on taking the real MCAT’s with a clear head, he scored very well, and has been accepted to a handful of medical schools for the 2008-09 academic year. He hasn’t made his mind up yet as to a specialty with medical school, but knows that he wants to experience different things before deciding. “I’m interested in surgery,” said the national qualifier. “I have done some work with orthopedics and neurosurgery, but before I make any real decisions, I want to see what experiences I can have.”
The national meet starts on Thursday, March 20 with the one-meter diving preliminary rounds and finals. Friday is the first round of the three-meter diving preliminaries, while the second round of the preliminaries is on Saturday. The finals for the three-meter board will be competed for on Saturday evening.