Liberty High School diver Ashley Van Milligan taking a stab at state title next month
Jan. 10—Ashley Van Milligan, who will represent the Liberty Lancers in diving for the third time at state this February, wasn't always comfortable on the diving board.
"Diving is full of mental blocks and you get on the board and you're scared to do a dive because you don't want to hit the board or you don't want to smack on the water because it's painful and so coming from freshman year where I would avoid dives during the entire practice to getting to the point where I get on the board and I just can throw the dive and it's easier for me to do now. That has been a big progression for me," Van Milligan said.
She's been in the zone since, advancing to the state meet her freshman year and taking eighth place. Van Milligan placed sixth in last year's state meet and placed 9th in the Amateur Athletic Union's Red-White-Blue Nationals in Morgantown, West Virginia last summer.
This year, the Liberty senior built upon her incredible career in December when she registered a 506.10 final 11-dive score at the Cheyenne Mountain Invitational. The mark stands as a pool and meet record and as of Jan. 3 is currently the highest and only 11-dive score above 500 according to prepswimco.com.
The score was one of the goals Van Milligan had for herself coming into the season.
Making state her freshman was another such goal Van Milligan met. Her sophomore year was a bit disappointing in that she didn't make the meet but she was back last year.
This year, as one as one of Colorado's top divers, she hopes to win it all.
Goals come and go but Van Milligan's desire to improve stays the same.
"Right now, because I am ranked higher up, one of my goals is to try and get the state title this year," she said. "Even if I have setbacks keeping a long-term goal in focus is really helpful for me. And I know that I'm moving on and I'm diving in college and for me it's more of I want to be better and I don't want to feel less than on a team so working toward being able to be a competitor in college that's a big thing for me."
After this school year, Van Milligan is headed to the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas which has Division I diving program. Beyond athletics, however, she was enticed by the school as an academic institution. She plans to major in biomedical engineering.
Van Milligan's journey to chasing state championships and becoming a Division I athlete, began six years ago when she was inspired by her older sister of five years, Allison, who also dove at Liberty and went to a Division I college. Van Milligan's family video tapes their daughters' meets so big sister is kept in the loop on her younger sister's progress and offers tips now and then. However Van Milligan credits her team and coaching staff at Liberty for the most part.
Lexie Barker, Van Milligan's coach, said she shares a great bond with the star diver. Both are smart alecks, Barker said. Van Milligan isn't always quick to adhere to her coach's advice but once she tries it, she's astounded according to Barker.
"So there's little times where 'Times I prove Ashley wrong,' where I keep tally marks on the board," Barker said while smiling. "I'll give her a correction and sometimes she'll be a little reluctant or scared to do it and as soon as she does it she's like, 'Oh, I guess that did work. I guess you are right. ' and so I'm like, 'Put a tally on the board.'"
Van Milligan has bonded with her teammates as well and beamed with pride when mentioning that two other divers, Avery Turner and Teva McCrary, qualified for the state meet as well. In years past, Van Milligan was the lone diver representing Liberty.
"When you don't have your teammates there, it sucks, you just feel alone," Barker said. "Having all of them is super exciting. It's great for me because obviously I've helped developed them a little bit so it's super cool to have my children up there. I love to see it. I call them my babies all the time."
