Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA)

January 19, 2004

She's doing her diving closer to home now
Cherokee's Natalie Thomas seeks some wins in N.J.

Author: Josh Egerman INQUIRER SUBURBAN STAFF

Edition: JERSEY
Section: SOUTH JERSEY SPORTS
Page: F06

Estimated printed pages: 3

Article Text:

She has dived in Europe and all over this country, but now she is focused on things a bit closer to home.

Cherokee junior Natalie Thomas is an accomplished diver on the Junior Olympic circuit, but she is more concerned now with winning in New Jersey than anywhere else.

That is mostly because there are two major high school titles that have eluded her - the Jim Roach 11-dive meet, which is the biggest meet in South Jersey, and the state championships. Last year, she was second at both meets.

"They're very important. That's what I'm focusing on right now," Thomas said. "Outside of high school, there's nothing big right now, so I'm focusing on states and Jim Roach. You get more recognition and colleges recognize high school diving more."

She will have her first chance to be recognized Thursday in the Jim Roach meet at Atlantic City. The state meet is in early March at the College of New Jersey.

The latter is the one t! hat really pushes her. Last year, she finished less than a point behind her good friend Liza Marianni, a junior at Cherry Hill West and a training partner of Thomas' with Spinner Diving, a club team out of Drexel.

"The year before she was seventh [at states], so it was definitely an improvement," Cherokee swim team coach Cheryl May said. "But as an athlete, you're frustrated to come that close. She's not going to settle for anything less than being first this year. Being second last year is driving her."

In the 10 1/2 months since she was nipped at states, Thomas has elevated her diving. Practicing three or four times a week at Drexel, Thomas' dive list has gotten longer and more difficult. Dives she once did in the tuck position, she now does in the pike or layout position, making them more challenging and higher scoring.

"I feel my diving has gotten stronger. I've had a year to learn new dives and I just feel more confident. My degree of difficulty ha! s gotten higher," said Thomas, who opened the season with a personal-b est six-dive total of 249.2 points. "I'm more confident. I know I've mastered these dives."

Spinner diving coach Larry May, no relation to Cheryl May, has seen the change.

"Right now, she's diving as well as I've ever seen," Larry May said. "She likes high school diving and she's starting to get judged really well. She seems really ready."

Thomas began diving when she was 8, taking a class in Egg Harbor, where her family lived at the time. When the Thomases moved to Marlton two years later, she was introduced to Larry May, visited his club team and took quickly to his coaching and the competition. She started in the late spring, and two months later, she was diving in Junior Olympic competitions.

"She was very responsive to coaching and had good physical skills," Larry May said. "She was flexible and looked graceful in what she was doing at an early age."

By the time she was 12, she had made Junior Olympic nationals for the first time. She ! has made it every year since. As much as she is focusing on her high school meets this year, she says there is still something special about nationals.

"I like the big competitions," she said. "I know I'm going to do good because there are a lot of good girls there. If you do well there, you know you've accomplished something."

Larry May believes she will accomplish plenty more.

"She has the type of personality where she puts pretty lofty goals on herself and she's pretty fearless," he said. "She's not afraid of trying new dives."

Some girls hit a wall when they are 14 or 15, he said. She went over it.

"You have to learn the mechanics of a certain dive," she said. "You can't just get out there and go in the water. You have to know each step and work on each step. It's a process."

That process is never really complete, but she has endured it. And that process has her confident heading into Thursday's Jim Roach meet.

She is con! fident she has the ability to overcome Marianni, but knows it won't be easy.

"I haven't competed against her yet this year, but by the way things are going [in practice], I think we both have a good chance," Thomas said. "It's just a matter of who dives better that day."

Contact suburban staff writer

Josh Egerman at 856-779-3865

or jegerman@phillynews.com.

Caption:
AKIRA SUWA / Inquirer Staff

"I've had a year to learn new dives and I just feel more confident," Thomas says. Her degree of difficulty is higher.

Junior Natalie Thomas of Cherokee is a diver on the Junior Olympic circuit, competing all over the nation and in Europe, but her immediate goals are to win the Jim Roach meet and the state title.PHOTO

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