WVU has high expectations in Big East Diving championships

After preparing all season, West Virginia diving coach Michael Grapner has high expectations for his team as they travel to Pittsburgh's Trees Pool to participate in the Big East Conference Diving championships this weekend.

"The expectations are looking for consistency on the upper end, recognizing that the divers have worked hard all year for this meet, (and) they are prepared." Grapner said.

"I have high expectations with reasonable goals for each diver."

Since the team last competed, the men on Jan. 21 at Maryland and the women on Jan. 27 at Ohio, Grapner has spent the time making sure his team's dives are fine-tuned and mentally prepared for the high level of competition they will see at the Big East championships.

"(We are) recognizing that small points make big differences," Grapner said. "It's one dive at a time, and that is all they need to think about during the meet."

Ultimately, Grapner is trying to build the divers' confidence high enough so they know exactly what they need to do to be successful before taking the leap off the diving board.

"The best thing that we can do right now is build the confidence to know that they can do that dive and do every dive very well," he said.

On the men's team, Grapner has the confidence that two specific members will thrive at the Big East championships and reach the goals they have set.

"Matt O'Neil and Richard Pokorny are diving better than they have all year," Grapner said. "They look good, their confidant, and I'm expecting a positive showing from both of them this year."

O'Neil, a senior, is coming off a seventh-place finish at the Big East championships in 2011. According to Grapner, O'Neil has worked hard all season and set goals in order to guarantee he finishes better at this year's championship.

"(O'Neil is) taking bigger dives and improving on that," he said. "Matt has just started to turn a page on working hard, to learn new dives and make an impact on the smaller points that make big differences."

As for Pokorny, Grapner likes the transition the sophomore has made from his freshman season.

"Richard has turned around and gone from a totally basic list (of dives) as a freshman, to know becoming a true Big East competitor this season with a bigger list of dives with various degrees of difficulty," Grapner said. "He will be one to watch out for at this year competition."

On the women's side, Grapner expects big things from freshman Haily VandePoel, but more importantly is excited about the experience she will gain in her first Big East championship.

"Haily VandePoel has had a very successful season," he said. "More than anything I want them to experience the level of competition at the Big East so they are prepared for years to come."

Grapner will not measure his success this weekend with wins or losses, but rather how his team performs in reference to their goals.

"When they achieve their goals, I have achieved success," he said.