The Sojourn’s Athlete of the Week, presented by Amplify Media, is Macy Schmidtgall, the lone diver for Indiana Wesleyan University.
Schmidtgall is a sophomore from Morton, Illinois. She attended Morton High School.
“I was a gymnast for eight years, so knowing how to move my body was a foundation,” Schmidtgall said.
Schmidtgall was named the NAIA Diver of the Year in 2024, as she was last year’s NAIA National Champion in the three-meter dive. She finished third at nationals in the one-meter dive and was also the Mid-South Conference champion in both dives.
“My biggest goal for this season is to at least win the one or three-meter again,” Schmidtgall said.
This season, Schmidtgall has already broken her own records and qualified for NAIA Nationals.
“This season has been hard, so to get a record and see improvement was very nice,” Schmidtgall said.
Schmidtgall is the lone diver on the team, which causes some unique conditions. Megan Carroll, a former IWU diver and teammate of Macy’s, understands the extra lengths Schmidtgall has to go to be great.
“The three-meter dive, they can’t even put in the facility at IWU because the ceiling doesn’t reach the legal requirements,” Carroll said.
Carroll added that Schmidtgall drives nearly an hour to and from practice daily due to IWU’s insufficient diving equipment.
“As a freshman, she managed that surprisingly well,” Carroll said.
Schmidtgall will train for the Mid-South Conference Championships, which will take place in Danville, Kentucky, February 6-8, before competing in the NAIA National Championships, which will be held in Elkhart, Indiana, about a month later, March 5-8.
