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CHAMPAIGN — This past Tuesday night, Erin Armstrong was locked in.
The Champaign Central freshman has been the Maroons’ top diver on the girls’ swimming and diving team all season, and this was her first taste of the head-to-head rivalry atmosphere against crosstown foe Centennial. That’s why she took a few extra warmup dives to get everything just right before being the first competitor to take the springboard in front of the packed crowd at Unit 4 Pool.
That extra preparation worked, as six dives later, Armstrong compiled a personal-best score of 213.90 to win the first of an eventual seven events for the Maroons on their way to a 105-81 team victory.
And immediately after she finished her last dive, she was out the door and on her way to Normal to join her volleyball teammates, where she played in both sets of a 2-0 loss to Normal Community.
That’s right. Armstrong competes in both diving and volleyball for Central, and Tuesday was a perfect example of what it’s like playing multiple sports in one season.
“I just focus on one thing at a time,” Armstrong said. “It would get really stressful if I started thinking about everything I had to do. Diving and volleyball are like two different sides of my brain. When I’m diving, I’m focused on that, and when I’m playing volleyball, I’m focused on that.”
Armstrong has been diving for eight years and picked up volleyball in sixth grade. While she said the most difficult part about doing both at the same time is that she’s always tired, she added that the best part is “I get the best of both worlds,” something she didn’t expect to get heading into high school.
“At first, I thought I was only going to do diving, but as I went through summer volleyball season, I was like, ‘Wow, I do really like this sport,’” Armstrong said. “Balancing my love for both sports has made it easier. And I’m doing what I like, so it’s not too hard.”
Armstrong doesn’t play any other sports, so her busiest season by far is the fall. She said she’d love to continue doing both through high school as long as it works out, and it has so far, as she’s finished at or near the top of every diving competition and has contributed to some big wins for the volleyball team. Again, as just a freshman.
“It’s really cool,” Armstrong said with a smile. “Something I didn’t expect but something I hold myself to. I know I can do it, so that’s my goal. That’s what I go for.”
An interesting addition to Armstrong’s story is that her Central diving teammate, freshman Lilly Bradley, essentially does the same thing.
Bradley is the Maroons’ No. 2 diver, who finished second at Tuesday’s meet with a personal-best score of 173.20. She also had to leave right after competing to get to dance practice. Bradley dances competitively year round, often practicing from 5-9 p.m. right after diving. She also has little free time, but she said it’s worth it to just be part of her teams.
“It’s kind of hard to balance it all, but I’m just here to score some points for the team,” Bradley said. “I’m definitely sacrificing in both to do them, but it’s a really good learning experience.”
A look back
Athlete of the Week winners
Congratulations to Logan Mills of St. Joseph-Ogden boys’ soccer and Reese Rundle of Danville girls’ tennis for receiving the most votes in this week’s polls. They are our latest Athletes of the Week and will be featured in next Monday’s sports pages.
Other finalists included Erin Armstrong of Champaign Central swimming and diving, Rah’kiyah Boatright-Williams of Urbana volleyball, Milee Ellis of Georgetown-Ridge Farm volleyball, Carter Foran of Monticello football, Augustus Gaudio of Mahomet-Seymour boys’ cross-country and Jase Latoz of Chrisman/Georgetown-Ridge Farm boys’ golf.
Be sure to vote in next week’s polls, which open at 9 a.m. Monday and close at noon the following Thursday. You can find them under the “Prep Sports” tab on news-gazette.com.
Shoutouts
Kellen Davis-Foltz
Centennial football
Became the Chargers’ all-time leading score when the senior quarterback compiled three touchdowns and a two-point conversion in last Friday’s road Big 12 win against Danville, putting him at 361 points and counting.
Bella Almaroad
Mahomet-Seymour girls’
swimming and diving
Broke her own school record in 1-meter diving with a score of 315.30 at last Saturday’s Charger Invite.
Talynn O’Donnell
Mahomet-Seymour
girls’ swimming and diving
Broke her own school record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1 minute, 1.36 seconds at last Saturday’s Charger Invite.
Mahomet-Seymour
girls’ swimming 200-yard
medley relay team
Karsyn Johnson, Lainey Howard, Talynn O’Donnell and Raegan O’Donnell teamed up to swim a school-record time of 1 minute, 54.87 seconds at last Saturday’s Charger Invite.
Ethan Merritt
Oakwood/Salt Fork boys’ soccer
Set new program records for goals in a game with six and goals in a career with 71 in a 6-1 win agaist St. Thomas More on Monday.
Christa Holohan
Watseka volleyball
Surpassed 1,000 assists for her career with 33 in a win over Prairie Central on Monday.
Local News
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