The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Promising Chagrin diver takes familiar path
Samantha Holtz may only be three 11-dive competitions into her high school career, thanks to a season ravaged by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
But one facet is certain with the Chagrin Falls freshman.
She very well could be the future of News-Herald coverage area girls diving — not to mention already being an integral part of the present.
And in reaching that perch, she chose a path that worked well for her, just like notable area predecessors.
Holtz was dialed in while winning the Chagrin Valley Conference meet title Jan. 22 before taking home top honors Jan. 23 at the Nordonia Diving Invitational. That marked 11-dive meet Nos. 2 and 3 this winter, after finally logging an initial repetition in that regard to ring in the new year at the Orange Invitational.
Not having a consistent slate of 11-dive competitions has added to the degree of difficulty — one in this instance not assessed from dive to dive on the board, but in the broader process.
“I think it’s definitely difficult, because even if I’m at practice, I’m not practicing my 11 dives because I won’t have an 11-dive meet coming up,” Holtz said. “So I think just having a solid 11dive list to come back to every time when having an 11dive meet is really challenging, just because you don’t get to practice it a lot.”
The Holtz family can be found often around the diving well.
Her older brother, Michael, was a late starter in diving while balancing his duties as a goaltender for the University hockey team. He blossomed into a twotime Division II state qualifier and is now in college as a freshman diver for the Rochester Institute of Technology.
In 2019, Michael Holtz told The News-Herald the story of how he got into diving.
“I started playing hockey when I was 4 when I moved to Canada, and then I moved back,” he said. “My little sister started diving two years ago, and she really liked it. She started picking it up really fast. So I decided I’d give it a try, and it was an interesting skill set I never really found before.”
That
“little sister” to whom he referred is now one of the best at her craft in Ohio.
Part of the reason Holtz picked it up fast, as her brother mentioned, is because she discovered the natural transition to diving from what had been her first sport.
“I started diving three years ago when I was in sixth grade after nine years of gymnastics,” Holtz said.
“I really love gymnastics. I did it for nine years, and honestly, the people there really love the culture and the sport in general. I think most people go through their high school season and don’t have a lot of people coming over to come into diving to do it for the four years. So I think that’s a large part of it.”
If transitioning from gymnastics into diving — or doing both — given the parallels of body control necessary to succeed sounds familiar locally, it should.
Among the area luminaries who have taken a similar path are former West Geauga standout Kami Goodrick and longtime Perry staple Erin O’Donnell. Goodrick was a converted gymnast who was a four-time top-three state placer in D-II diving, including winning a state title as a junior in 2017. O’Donnell aspired to do both sports during the winter in her career and managed that workload laudably.
One striking aspect of Holtz’s approach is her efficiency on the board. It’s not uncommon for divers, especially on reverse dives, to take upward of 15-20 seconds before a dive.
Holtz? Not so much, but in a good way. At CVC, all 11 of her dives were performed in well less than 10 seconds.
Part of that emanates from the confidence in her approach.
“I’ve been practicing a lot on my reverses,” Holtz said. “So I’m definitely building up my confidence to being able to get on the board and just completely go without a second thought. So yeah, building up confidence is definitely part of that.”
The timing of Holtz arriving at Chagrin couldn’t be much better in several ways, but one is assuredly the opportunity to be teammates for a year with program staple Kate Lamonica. The three-time D-II state qualifier and Minnesota signee’s presence has been invaluable to Holtz as a young diver.
“Oh, she’s absolutely amazing,” Holtz said. “We’re friends in and out of the pool. Of course, going to school with her really helps. She’s an absolutely amazing influence. She is such an amazing diver. I have a great time at practice, being able to look up to her and having those dives that, ‘Oh, Kate is doing that. I definitely want to try that.’
“She has definitely been a great influence for me.”
Holtz’s scores thus far have highly encouraged as the road to state nears.
She went for a 437.65 at CVC, then a 467.00 at Nordonia. Earlier in the month at Orange, she logged a 394.50.
Girls D-II diving at state this year could get interesting, with four podium placers returning, including Lamonica and reigning state champion Lena Morgan of Worthington Christian.
Holtz knows she has to get deeper into the 400s to factor there.
Either way, though, it’s clear and present and future is bright.
“Honestly, just practice,” Holtz said as far as the key to pushing higher into the 400s. “By having practice nearly every day of every week is really just going to help me get there. Overall, just spending time on onemeter and just focusing on my technique for all of my dives.”