Clutch sophomore luke hawkins wins dac championship on final dive

Tom Keegan
onwardtrojans.com

The diving bug bit Luke Hawkins in the summer of 2023 and it never did let go of the Chesterton sophomore.
Elijah Mercado, now in his third year as the high school’s boys and girls diving coach, held a three-day camp “with about 31 kids” when Hawkins decided to give it a try.
A youth soccer player, Hawkins was brand new to the diving board.
“I saw him on the boards and I saw how fast he was picking up the sport in three days and I pulled him to the side and his parents to the side and I told them, ‘You know, this kid’s got potential,’” Mercado said. “I’d love to work with him and see where this sport can take him.”
Well, Hawkins’ high school diving career isn’t quite half over and where it has taken him is all the way to a DAC diving championship.
Already.
No one could have predicted that would happen so quickly, and in fact, Hawkins didn’t even predict it the morning of the competition.
In second place behind Lake Central’s Landon Wrobiewski going into the 11th and final dive, Hawkins passed him to win by a bead of water, with a score of 399.20, compared to 399.00 for Wrobiewski.
Hawkins was the lone Chesterton athlete to win one of the 11 individual events at the DAC Championship at Lake Central, which was won by Valparaiso. Chesterton finished fourth.
“I didn’t think I was going to win,” Hawkins said before Monday’s practice. “I thought he was going to win, but my last dive came and I thought it was going to be pretty close, so I didn’t know if I was going to be first or second, but I got first by a little bit.”
Going into the meet, Hawkins’ highest 11-dive score was 363 at the early season Hobart Invitational. To understand how far Hawkins has come in a year, consider that the score that earned him eighth place at the sectional meet as a freshman was 204.65.
“The performance was phenomenal,” Mercado beamed. “I think him being calm really helped. It’s hard diving under pressure, and the DAC is pretty tough.”
Hawkins’ gutsy gamble, put into action the day before the DAC Championship, made him a champion.
He had been struggling with executing a reverse 1-1/2 pike.
“So we took a long break from it, a little over a month ago,” Mercado said. “Then we tried that dive the day before the DAC at practice and it was good. I told him I have no problem gambling. Why not? Why not go for the big one? Anything can happen.”
Accomplished divers love their sport, and any diver will tell you the opposite of love is not hate; it’s fear. Hence, why not put the difficult dive back on the list and go for it?
So when Mercado asked Hawkins if he wanted to bring it back, the answer was yes.
“I kind of wanted to do it before he brought it up,” Hawkins said.
Out with the easier dive and in with the more difficult one, which if done just as well brings the diver far more points because of the higher degree of difficulty.
Mercado works in the summer with both divers, who have become good friends. The coach said he thinks that was a big factor in Hawkins keep the pressure at bay.
“It’s cool seeing the familiar faces on deck and then diving together,” Mercado said. “It was kind of like another day at practice. It brings you back to the summer days and summer training. I have to give a lot of credit to Landon, too, because he’s an awesome kid. I appreciate Landon because he kept Luke calm, a little reserved, so big kudos to Landon, too.”
The minuscule margin of victory sent Mercado’s mind bouncing off the board of memory lane to the 2016 sectional meet at Chesterton. Diving for Hobart, Mercado placed first with a score of 454.50, edging Valparaiso’s Nicholas Schwartz, who scored a 454.20, losing by three-tenths of a point.
Beyond Hawkins, the next-highest finishes by Trojans: Senior Luke Wheele placed fourth in the 200 freestyle (1:46.61) and 100 free (48.55); Freshman Greydon Pieroni placed fourth in the 100 butterfly (53.99); Chesterton’s 200 free relay team featuring Wheele, Andrew Kazmierczak, Liam Eschbach and Calan Berrier finished fourth with a time of 1:33.22.