Conor Compton poses by a bulldozer with his medals from the Allegany-Empire Championships. Compton will compete at the NCAA Championships this week.
Diver Conor Compton (Rexford, NY/Niskayuna) made Alfred State history when he qualified for the 2023 NCAA Division III Swimming and Diving National Championships. Compton is the first Pioneer diver to compete at Nationals.
Compton had high expectations for his first year at Alfred State after finishing 2nd in the state as a senior in high school. He dove right in to college diving and set new college records on both the 1m and 3m boards for both the 6-dive and 11-dive programs, was named AMCC Diver and Newcomer of the Year, helped his team to the Allegheny-Empire Championships, and qualified for the NCAA Diving Regionals.
“I was hoping to earn a national spot, but those kids were extremely talented and that was one of the most fun meets of my life. I was fortunate enough to do my best and I showed people what I could do, and I qualified for Nationals.”
“Nationals was the goal. I was not sure how realistic it was but once I got there, I knew that I had a realistic shot at it. It was hard, you couldn’t miss a single dive. On Friday, I was close, it gave me confidence going into Saturday.”
After finishing 6th on the 1m board with 480.25 points, Compton punched his ticket to the Nationals (March 15-18 at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, NC) with a 2nd place finish on the 3m board. He scored 521.45 points to join the other 23 male divers that will compete at Nationals.
Compton spends his evenings and weekends on the diving board, but he spends the school day studying heavy equipment operations with a dream of owning his own company and his own equipment one day.
“I chose Alfred State because of the heavy equipment program we have here. I really enjoyed it when I visited. I got to see all the equipment and got to see all the hands-on work we get to do here. I love being outside. That is probably my favorite part about this.”
After spending an hour or two in the classroom every day, Compton and his classmates get to work. They operate skid steers, bulldozers, excavators, backhoes, wheel loaders and more for the rest of the school day.
After class, Compton enjoys his free time with his friends and fuels up before heading to practice. He is coached by Pioneer alum Nick Beach who also majored in heavy equipment operations while he dove at Alfred State.
“Alfred State is unique. I get the college experience and a college degree, and I also get to dive on the team.”
Compton is appreciative of the support he has received. “The support has been amazing. I love all my buddies, my teammates, all my coaches, and of course my parents back home. It has been above what I thought it could be.”
His approach heading into Nationals is a simple one. “I am looking to have a whole lot of fun and do my best. Hopefully I can come out and be happy and be a better diver than I was before.”
Compton is scheduled to dive in the 1m competition on Thursday, March 16 and the 3m on Saturday March 18.
