STATE MEET: Despite achievements, Gaels diver feels jitters

Bishop Gorman’s Ciera Cortney felt at home the first time she stepped onto a diving platform.

Still, the senior hasn’t conquered all of her pre-competition jitters.

“I didn’t really know what to expect when I first started diving, but I felt like it was something I was born to do,” Cortney said. “Once I stepped on the diving board, it was just natural to me.”

One of the most accomplished divers in Nevada, Cortney leads the Gaels into the Class 4A state swim meet at 1 p.m. Saturday at UNLV’s Buchanan Natatorium — the last meet in an impressive high school career.

“It’s pretty sad to me (to see high school end), but it’s great to see how much I’ve accomplished in the past four years,” said Cortney, who owns the state record with a score of 488.55 points as a sophomore. “Since I’ve worked really hard, I feel like it’s all paid off.”

Cortney won the state title as a freshman with less than a year of diving experience, scoring 417.45 points.

The four-time Sunset Region champion posted a 507.05 in this year’s regional meet at UNLV that would break the state mark should she complete the same dives Saturday.

Before her first dive at her final regional, the anxiety was visible on Cortney’s face.

“I was very nervous,” she said. “I didn’t have the best week of practice, so I just wanted to do really well. It’s hard coming into it being a three-time regional champion. It’s your senior year and you don’t want to mess up.”

Cortney eclipsed Green Valley diver Aubrie Cooper’s 1997 state record of 462.70 with her mark of 488.55 in 2008, but not even that could alleviate her jitters.

“People now will expect me to beat my scores this year and that I will be a state champion,” she said. “That’s put some pressure on me. But I think I handled it pretty well.”

Cortney attributes her success to seven years of gymnastics training and her club diving coach, Julie Weddle, who is also a UNLV assistant.

“I’ve seen (UNLV divers) practice, and that inspires me to do my best and be just as good as them,” Cortney said.

She has accepted a full-ride scholarship to Boise State and is eager for the chance to compete for the Western Athletic Conference champion Broncos and to enroll in the university’s strong pre-pharmacy program.

“We are really excited about this incoming group of swimmers and divers,” Boise State swim coach Kristin Hill said of Cortney’s recruiting class in a statement on the Broncos’ website. “This is arguably our best recruiting class to date, but this time they are joining a team that is coming off a conference championship title so the standard for future success is high.”

Cortney hopes her lofty high school accomplishments translate to success at the next level.

“I really hope to make my name known in college diving,” she said, “and I hope that my state record can stand for a very long time.”