By Northern State diver Jacie Flockhart had a unique journey to the school’s swimming and diving program.
She ended up in Aberdeen because of two elements the school does not have.
The Boone, Iowa, native was searching on the Next College Student Athlete recruiting app for potential landing spots and came across Northern State. The university had the major she was looking for, according to the app.
But the app was wrong.
“Well, on the NCSA app it said Northern had a marine biology major, so I was super excited because that’s what I want to do,” Flockhart said. “Unfortunately, when I messaged Coach (Kaden) Huntrods, he told me Northern didn’t have it. He did tell me there was an environmental science major, and, doing a little research, I found that major could still help me get into the field I want.”
Northern State’s Jacie Flockhart hits the water in the 1-meter dive event Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Aberdeen Family YMCA. Photo courtesy of Kory Burdick.
The other element Northern lacks is a specific diving discipline.
“When Kaden said there was no 3-meter dive here, I was like, ‘Heck yeah, I’m signing here, I don’t even need to come and visit, you have a diver,'” she said.
Flockhart, who had been involved in trampoline and tumbling competitions from an early age, doesn’t like higher dives.
“Nine feet above water just wasn’t me,” she said. “I’ve landed on my head and neck hundreds of times in tumbling events, and it’s a much softer surface than diving off a 9-foot board with your body going even higher, then smacking on water.”
MORE: From ‘dodging crocs to dodging football players, Australia’s Ellard lands at NSU
Flockhart noticed a glitch when she first visited campus. The diving board at the Aberdeen Family Y was not the right type.
“When I got here, they didn’t have a diving board I could dive from, so I almost ended up not coming to Northern,” she said. “Kaden had to order one for me or I wouldn’t have been able to dive here.”
There are two types of boards — Duraflex and Maxiflex. Flockhart’s technique calls for a Maxiflex board.
She knew when she stepped on the board at the Y during her visit that it was the wrong type.
“If I had continued with that dive based on the power I need for my technique, I would have broken my knee,” she said.
Flockhart and her diving coach got “Coach Huntrods up to speed” on the right board, and Northern ordered it prior to her signing a letter of commitment.
When she got to campus for classes, the board still hadn’t arrived. It was on backorder, which the company had failed to tell Huntrods.
“That was a roller coaster of emotions for me being a freshman that far away from home and the one reason, or one of the bigger reasons for me being here was kind of ripped away from me,” Flockhart said. “Basically, I didn’t have a freshman year. … Add in the fact that I got mono and, yeah, it was a very rough start to my freshman year.”
Flockhart navigates rough waters throughout diving career
Flockhart began diving when she was 7 and her mother put her in a swimming and diving club at nearby Iowa State University.
Northern State diver Jacie Flockhart springs off the board during the 1-meter competition Saturday, Sept. 28 at the Aberdeen Family YMCA. Photo courtesy of Kory Burdick.
It did not go as smoothly as hoped. Admittedly scared at the onset, Flockhart said there was little room for getting over any fears.
“We had a collegiate diver teaching us, and she basically said, ‘Get on the board and dive or leave,’ so I left,” Flockhart said.
After talking with her mom, who was pivotal in Jacie’s development by enrolling her in a trampoline club, Flockhart returned to diving, albeit about five years later.
MORE: Northern State roundup: Men’s basketball team off to worst start in more than a century
She continued diving at the club level and into high school, which, she said, “really kick-started my desire to compete.”
However, that desire was stemmed at times due to what she called a “volatile relationship” with her then coach.
“It was difficult, very difficult at times,” Flockhart said. “I had to develop new dives constantly because my coach would basically threaten me that I would lose my spot. I was the best diver on our team, but I had to prove that every practice and every meet just so I wouldn’t lose my spot.”
A meeting between the coach and administration helped resolve the issue as all parties began focusing on a healthy, competitive drive, she said.
“When she changed her attitude and approach and began simply encouraging me, that’s when everything changed. I broke our school records, went to state four years in a row and got inducted into our hall of fame,” Flockhart said.
Significant success in sophomore season
The first half of Flockhart’s 2024-25 diving season came to a close Saturday, Dec. 7 at Concordia-St. Paul. Given the results so far, it’s clear Flockhart is one of the better divers in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. She has seven wins in eight events and hasn’t finished lower than second.
“It’s been a good year, no doubt,” she said. “I was the laughingstock last year. I went to a mid-season (NSIC) meet and everyone was like, ‘Oh, you’re the diver without a board, right?’ They didn’t look at me as a threat. I was doing standing dives for most of the year because we didn’t have the board yet. This year, yeah, it’s been different. Northern is not known for diving, and my goal is to try and build it, bring it to the community to see that it’s a program that can actually grow and thrive.”
Flockhart is the first diver at Northern in more than a decade.
MORE: Tietz, Sumption begin different journeys with Dakota State men’s basketball team
The long-term goal for the Midwestern diver involves the ocean and a mammal that calls the saltwater home.
“Dolphins. I want to do dolphin training. I know, I’m totally not near any coast,” Flockhart said. “I was in the Bahamas for two weeks this past July studying dolphins, which was just so much fun. Seeing them swim up to you, actually nudge you and watch how they interact with each other in a group and with you as an individual is just amazing. I was also doing an internship at an aquarium in Des Moines over the summer. It’s just something I really want to be involved with.”
Flockhart and the Wolves return to action Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, with a home meet against Minnesota State University Moorhead. The event begins at 2 p.m. at the Aberdeen Family YMCA.