A former standout as a member of the Youngstown State men's diving team, Nick Gavolas has built the YSU diving program into one of the most consistent programs in the Midwest as he enters his 21st season as an assistant swimming coach and head diving coach.
Gavolas, the 2002-03 and 2003-04 Horizon League Diving Coach of the Year, has helped YSU divers win 10 individual conference titles. He has also coached eight NCAA Zone C Championship qualifiers as well as two YSU Student-Athletes of the Year.
In 2015-16, the Penguins had five top-eight finishes combined in the two diving events. In the one-meter, McKenzie Stelter was third, Lydia Scheringer was fifth and Megan Siford finished eighth. In the three-meter event Bec Stafford was third and Bethany Glick was seventh. Divers scored 90 points for the Guins at the league meet.
At the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, Stafford finished 28th in both the one- and three-meter events.
At the 2014-15 Horizon League meet, Stelter led the way with fifth-place finishes in the one and three-meter events. To cap off her campaign, she was a strong 29th out of 53 competitors at the NCAA Zone C Diving Meet.
At the 2013-14 Horizon League Championship, Stafford led the way with a second-place finish in the one-meter dive with a score of 294.50 points. It marked the second straight season that Stafford placed second in the event.
The duo of Stafford and Casey Hill had a solid all-around campaign during 2012-13. Both advanced to the NCAA Zone C meet and were in the top five in both events at the Horizon League Championships. Stafford was second and Hill was third in the one-meter. In the three-meter, Stafford was third and Hill was fifth. At the Zone meet, Hill finished 27th in the three-meter.
In 2010-11, Hill became his third diver to win a League Championship and first since 2005. Hill won the 3-meter event with a score of 284.20. She won it on her final dive besting the second-place finisher by 0.15 points. For the second time in her career, she competed at the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships.
At the 2012 Horizon League Championships, Hill was second in the one-meter and three-meter diving events. In the three-meter, Breanne Horrigan was fifth while Tricia Vallinger was ninth. In the one-meter, Jackie Smith placed a career-best fifth while Vallinger was 10th.
In 2009-10, Hill placed fourth in the one-meter and three-meter diving events at the Horizon League Championships. In the finals of the three-meter she scored 252.85 points while in the one-meter she scored a 263.65. She participated in the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships for the first time in her career.
At the 2009 Horizon League Championships, Carpin placed in the top 10 in the one meter. She improved her podium position in both dives from her freshman to sophomore campaigns.
In 2005, Gavolas watched diver Kalyn Leveto cap off her career with her fourth Horizon League crown and the distinction of YSU's Vindicator Female Student-Athlete of the Year. Leveto, who also did her club diving with Gavolas at Timberbrook Diving, was named Horizon League Diver of the Year her sophomore and junior years. As a sophomore she won both diving events, and she claimed the title in the 3-meter and placed second in the 1-meter as a junior.
Prior to Leveto's string of championships, Brandi Goettsch was a mainstay on the diving championship podium for the Penguins. Goettsch was a three-time conference Diver of the Year, earning the mark in 2001-02 in the Horizon League and twice in the Mid-Continent Conference. She won the Horizon League's three-meter competition in 2001-02 and won four conference championships in the Mid-Con.
Mandi Smail also had an accomplished career under Gavolas, placing second in the 1-meter as a senior at the Horizon League Championship in 2003. She was also a four-time Zone C qualifier and finished in the top three twice at the Mid-Con Championship.
In 2007, Gavolas saw the development of Cortney Harless come to a pinnacle when she posted career-high finishes in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the Horizon League Championships. The season before, Kelly Reese was named the Horizon League Diver of the Week twice during her freshman campaign and posted scores to rank third in YSU history in the 3-meter and fourth in the 1-meter.
He has coached each of the top 10 women's divers in school history.
Gavolas, a YSU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, competed for the Penguins from 1967-72 and became YSU's first three-time All-American in diving. He earned national runner-up honors at the College National Swimming and Diving Championships in 1969 and was a national qualifier for the AAU Diving team.
Gavolas has spent 25 seasons as a coach and became YSU's first diving coach in 1973 with the men's diving team. He was named Northern Ohio Coach of the Year three times and was awarded a Mentor Scholarship through the United States Diving Association. Gavolas also went through extensive coaching training under Dick Kimball, a six-time Olympic coach and former diving coach at Michigan.
For over a decade, Gavolas has been the owner, director and coach of Timberbrook Diving. He has also earned his coaching certification to be a U.S. Diving coach.
