Sklocki signed a contract to fly to San Diego State next season, making her the first player to be recruited as a Basis Flagstaff graduate and added to the Division I roster. While only a handful of athletes have attended various schools since she joined campus, Scrocchi says her colleagues at Basis Flagstaff know she’s going to be a big athlete who breaks her record. I was joking.

“He told me not to forget,” she said with a laugh.

While there were several options for where he wanted to dive, Sklocki enrolled at Northern Arizona under current coach Nicky Kelsey, who leads the Northern Arizona Divers Youth Club and the Lumberjacks Diving Team. I stayed at home most of the time because I was diving in .

Three of Scrotki’s club teammates are currently diving for the Lumberjacks.

But after some thought, Mr. Scrocchi decided to go to California.

“When I visited, the team was amazing to me, really supportive, really good divers,” she said. “I’m definitely a beach person too, so I’m really looking forward to it. And I’m nervous in a good way.

Sklocki’s mother, Tina Chin, agrees.

“Of course I will miss her very much, but I always wanted my kids to be open to new experiences, so I encouraged them to leave Flagstaff for college. , I’m proud of her for choosing SDSU, even though she wanted to stay with Nikki Kelsey,” Chin said.

Over the years, Scrotki has competed for the Northern Arizona Divers under Kelsey with much success. Scrocchi finished first in both the 1m and 3m events at the 2023 U.S. Diving Junior Regional 11 Championships held April 21-23 in Albuquerque.

It was just the latest achievement in a long streak of success.

Kelsey remembers Scrotki a few years ago as a relatively new diver who had a nascent talent and a strong relationship with work in the sport. She saw a bright future.

But Skrocki wasn’t sure about his level of commitment, much less whether he’d reach the level of acceptance into top West Coast schools.

“For the first two years I didn’t even like diving, but then I got better and better and started winning and it really became something I love,” Scrocchi said.

In his early teens, Scrotki took the sport more seriously and started achieving success at the national level. According to Kelsey, she seemed to have a mental switch at that point and she became one of the club’s top performers and personalities.

“She was a great leader, which made her very successful, but she was also a great role model in how she trained, and many young divers look up to her,” said Kelsey.

“We’re really excited about this diver, but more than that, we’re super excited to have her as a person and as a teammate,” added Kelsey.

The Aztecs went 14-0 in two games last season. San Diego State also won the Mountain West Conference Championship, sending three divers to the NCAA Zone E meet.

The Scrotki continue to compete with the Northern Arizona Divers throughout the summer, including in zone and national competitions, before moving west in the fall.