Eric Elliott Hometown: Alexandria, VA Last College: West Chester (1992) Position: Diving Head Coach (8th season) Honor: Big 12 Coach of the Meet (2008 Big 12 Championships)

Diving coach Eric Elliott enters hiseighth year at the University of Kansas with head coach Clark Campbell and assistant coach Jen Fox, looking to rise above the diving competition within Kansas' Zone D.

Career at Kansas

Under Elliott's guidance, sophomore diver Christy Cash represented KU in the Zone 'D' Diving Championships, where she finished 22^nd in the platform (182.20), 30^th in the 1-meter (225.40) and 33^rd on the 3-meter (224.40). With Elliott's assistance, Cash also had career best performances during the 2010-11 season in three events, (one meter, 272.25), (three meter, 246.90), and (platform, 225.60). Divers Taylor Ilten and Alyssa Golden also recorded career best scoresin the one meter and three meterdives during the 2010-11 season.

Throughout the 2009-10 season, Elliot helped diver Meghan Proehl reach the NCAA Championships through her outstanding performances throughout the season. Proehl set career-highs on both the one-meter (299.97 points) and three-meter (303.38) boards. She was named Big 12 Diver of the Week for her accomplishments. Both Proehl and diver Allison Ho were also named to the Academic All-Big 12 teams for their performances in the classroom.

During the 2008-09 season, Elliot coached diver Erin Mertz to All-American status at the Zone D Diving meet with her seventh place finish on the one-meter board. She became the first Jayhawk to earn All-American status since Kristin Nilsen accomplished the feat in 1998 with her 15th place performance in the 200 yard breaststroke. Mertz is the first KU diver to earn the honor since Michelle Rojohn won the three-meter diving event in 1996.

Under the direction of Elliott during the 2007-08 campaign, four Kansas divers competed at the 2008 NCAA Zone D meet at the University of Houston. Mertz, junior Hannah McMacken, sophomore Meghan Proehl and senior Jenny Roberts collaborated to represent the Jayhawks in Texas. Four KU divers were named to the 2007-08 Academic All-Big 12 team, while two Jayhawks received individual Big 12 accolades on the season.

Proehl was named to the Big 12 Winter Good Works Team for her excellence in academics, combined with her significant community service efforts with Habitat for Humanity and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Additionally, for her outstanding freshman campaign, Mertz received Big 12 Diver of the Week honors Feb. 20.

The Kansas divers completed an impressive 2006-07 season with three NCAA Zone Diving Championship qualifiers, contributing to Kansas' 6-1 overall record and 2-1 record in the Big 12 Conference. Then senior Shelby Noonan, junior Jenny Roberts and freshman Meghan Proehl represented Kansas at the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships at the Jamail Texas Swim Center March 2-4 on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas. Noonan, Roberts and Proehl all placed in the top-20 in their respective events as Noonan reeled in an eighth-place finish on the one-meter board and a 12th place finish in the three-meter competition.

In early 2006 competition, Noonan, Roberts and Proehl swept first, second and third in the one-meter diving competition in the double-dual meet against Nebraska-Omaha and South Dakota State following their domination against the University of Northern Iowa, where the trio qualified for the Zone D Championships at the third meet on the Jayhawks schedule. Later in the season, under the instruction of Elliott, Noonan reeled in Big 12 co-diver of the week accolades for her performance at the Terrapin Cup Invitational. Noonan finished second on both the one-meter board (255.30) and three-meter board (275.85) in the competition.

In addition to success on the diving board, the Kansas divers excelled in the classroom. Sophomore Hannah McMacken and Roberts were named to the Academic All-Big 12 first team, posting a GPA of 3.2 or higher, while Noonan reeled in second team accolades, posting a GPA between 3.0-3.19. Sixteen swimmers and divers earned Academic All-Big 12 team accolades, with 14 receiving first team nominations and two receiving second team nominations.

During the 2005-06 season, Elliott had three Jayhawks qualify for the Zone D Diving Championships in Columbia, Mo. Senior Robyn Karlage, Noonan, and senior Casey Topol, scored honors in the top-25 in the one-meter competition at the Zone D Championships. In three-meter competition, Karlage, Noonan, and Topol all placed in the top-30.

Under Elliott, Noonan led the 2005-06 team with first place finishes against Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa State and Drury. She also earned a fourth place finish at the Minnesota Invitational, where the swimming and diving team placed third.

Career before Kansas

Elliott joined the Jayhawks for the 2004-05 season after one year as the head diving coach at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. Prior to coaching at Louisiana-Monroe, he was a volunteer assistant coach with the University of Georgia diving team and started an age-group program with Dan Laak in 1995 in Athens, Ga. In eight years with the diving program, he coached divers that reached the Junior National finals and who represented the Junior U.S. Diving team in international competitions.

Elliott began his coaching career at Upper Marion High School in Pennsylvania before being named the head diving coach at Old Dominion University from 1993-94 and Virginia Tech from 1994-95. A native of Alexandria, Va., Elliott was an accomplished diver himself. He earned high school All-American diving honors at Mount Vernon High School and NCAA Division II All-American honors at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He graduated from West Chester with a secondary education degree with an emphasis in history in 1992.

Elliott is married to Kirsteen Bennington and they have a son, Liam, and daughter, Doran.