LaFollette

LaFollette will dive for Grinnell College

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

By JUSTIN CONN

The Register-Mail

But the Pioneers' accomplishments on the basketball court pale in comparison to their run of success in women's swimming and diving - a tradition Galesburg High School senior Hannah LaFollette hopes to continue.

On Monday, LaFollette - a two-time IHSA State Meet qualifier in diving - announced she would attend Grinnell and continue her diving career there. Grinnell has won nine straight Midwest Conference women's swimming and diving championships.

"They're into their basketball there, but also swimming," LaFollette said. "I'm going to be going up against some pretty good competition from the other divers there from what I've seen."

But it wasn't just the successful swimming and diving program that sold LaFollette on Grinnell - a two-and-a-half hour drive from Galesburg.

"I went there and fell in love with the campus - it reminded me a lot of Knox's campus," LaFollette said. "There were some other places that were willing to give me money, but they were a little too far away."

LaFollette said she considered St. Norber and was recruited hard by the University of Illinois-Chicago.

"I'm a small-town country girl," LaFollette said. "I didn't want to live in downtown Chicago."

LaFollette said she hopes to add more dives to her repertoire as she makes the transition from high school to college diving.

"She's already diving at a very high level," said GHS diving coach John Olson.

LaFollette plans to major in biology, minor in chemistry and enter the pre-med program. LaFollette wants to become either a physician's assistant or nurse practitioner.

LaFollette is the second diver in GHS head swimming and diving coach Ray VanHootegem's 14 years to go on to college and dive - Nikki Pesci attended Illinois State University in the mid-1990s.