Bee Diver of the Year: Pitman’s Sondeno taking high school sport to new heights

Natasha Sondeno no longer dives in anonymity.

In a community that goes goo-goo for its baseball and football teams, the Pitman High School junior has helped make water sports a conversation piece again.

It’s hard to ignore history.

Let the record show: Sondeno, a former gymnast who began diving at 10, is the first and only diver in Stanislaus District history to toe the 1-meter springboard at a state high school championship.

Even complete strangers think that’s pretty cool.

“People have been talking to me more and more about diving,” she said. “There’s only two of us on the team. Before this year, I don’t know that many people realized we had a dive team.”

Sondeno has been a catalyst in the sport’s growing exposure. The Bee’s Diver of the Year finished fourth at the Sac-Joaquin Section Finals, securing her place in the firstCIF State Swimming and Diving Championships at the Clovis Olympic Swim Complex.

Once there, Sondeno locked up a berth in the finals with a season-best performance.

“State, that was a first for everyone. It was amazing to be a part of such a historical event,” she said. “The competition was amazing, and I had a great time. I was happy with how things went.”

Sondeno passed virtually every test, advancing through the competition and into the final group. The girls’ 1-meter springboard began with 28 divers, then cut down to the top 20 and 16.

Sondeno finished 16th with a season-best score of 411.5, according to her club coach, Robert Wimberly of Delta Valley Diving. It was nearly 40 points better than her qualifying score.

“She dove extremely well. We put in a lot of work on a couple of dives and really trained them hard every day,” Wimberly said. “That made a huge difference on the final score.”

The dives in question were Sondeno’s reverses. She scored 6s and 7s at state, Wimberly said, a stark improvement over the scores she netted at the section meet.

“Overall, she was more relaxed, and you could see it in her demeanor when she was warming up,” he added. “That let her perform very, very well.”

That performance at state has become her motivation. She has identified her weaknesses and committed her mind and body to a rigorous training schedule.

Her daily planner is booked with practices with Wimberly and Delta Valley Diving at San Joaquin Delta College, weightlifting sessions and meets, near and far, on the weekends.

“It definitely heightens my expectations for myself,” Sondeno said. “I need to improve upon that. I can’t take a step back down. I have to keep climbing up.”

Her typical day goes like this: She leaves her house in Turlock for practice in Stockton at 4 p.m. Practice begins at 5:30 with dry land exercises. At 7:30, she’ll pull the covers over the pool and head across the street to Planet Fitness.

Weights, she says, help her jumping power, height and tightness of body.

Sondeno, like most swimmers and divers, views the training schedule as an investment in her future. She hopes to turn this summer of sweat into a return to the state championships, a college scholarship or, better yet, an Olympic opportunity.

“I practice every weekday. I’m focusing on the things I need to improve, such as reverses,” said Sondeno, who competed at zones in Portland, Ore., last weekend. “Anything I can do to help increase my chances of going to state and getting better this next year.”

And with each dive and every meet, she champions the sport, pushing the conversation.

“With her diving in Turlock for the high school and Stockton for club, it helps broaden the area,” Wimberly said. “She’s been doing great (as a catalyst), and hopefully, it continues to grow.”

This story was originally published June 16, 2015 at 8:08 PM with the headline "Bee Diver of the Year: Pitman’s Sondeno taking high school sport to new heights."