Courtesy: Little Rock Athletics
LITTLE ROCK – The Trojan swimming and diving team has hired Chris Pape as Little Rock’s new diving coach, as announced by the program on Friday.
“Chris is just what we need to continue our growth and focus on building the diving side of our program,” said head coach Amy Burgess, entering her 15th season leading the Trojans this fall. “With his great experience at multiple levels and previous success, we are fortunate to have him with us and see where he can take Little Rock Diving. His passion for diving and value for growth is contagious and I am excited to be working together.”
This move is a strategic one aimed at strengthening the performance of the Trojans as a whole, as the program was just one of two schools at the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Championships this past season that did not have divers participate.
Little Rock finished seventh out of eight teams at the 2022 MVC Championships, less than 50 points away from sixth. For reference, the sixth-place finishing team, Evansville, advanced four divers to finals, collecting 31 points total. Valparaiso, the other school that did not have any divers at the MVC Championships, does not field a diving team at all, and finished last overall.
The last time that Little Rock had divers participate at the MVC Championships was in 2020. While the team did have divers on the roster during the 2020-21 season, neither competed at the conference meet.
Pape joins Little Rock after two seasons at South Dakota, where he coached three Coyote men’s divers to top-five finishes with runner-up performances on both boards during the 2020-21 season. His work helped guide the team to its first Summit League team championship. On the women’s side, he coached one diver to claim gold in her first individual title on one-meter and a runner-up finish on the three-meter, while having three other divers finish in the top-eight in competitions throughout the season.
In the 2019-20 season, Pape helped the Coyotes’ men’s and women’s teams both finish as runners-up at the Summit League Championships. Thanks to his guidance, one diver received All-Summit League honors in both the one-meter and three-meter boards and was an NCAA Zone Qualifier in both events.
Prior to his arrival in Vermillion, he spent the previous six seasons as the diving coach at Lindenwood, then a NCAA Division II school in St. Charles, Missouri that is now a member of the Ohio Valley Conference in most sports alongside Little Rock.
During his tenure at Lindenwood, Pape saw 13 of his divers advance to the NCAA Division II National Championships. He was twice named New South Intercollegiate Swim Conference (NSISC) Diving Coach of the Year.
Pape headed to Lindenwood after coaching one season at NCAA Division III Augsburg. He helped initiate the first official diving season in that school’s history, an experience that will be much needed as the Trojan seek to rebuild.
Pape spent time on the boards himself in college – he was an all-conference and national qualifying diver at St. Cloud State from 2004-08. He was a five-time conference finalist and had a best showing of 15th on the three-meter dive at the NCAA Division II National Championship.
The Trojans, coming off a season with five new school records set, competes at the Division I level in the Missouri Valley Conference.