Making a splash

By Jon Malavolti
C & G Staff Writer

Cayce Bolt

Warren Mott alumnus, Sterling Heights native, earns All-American diving honors

Cayce Bolt earned a pair of first-team All-American honors as a diver for Wayne State University this past season.

Bolt, a Warren Mott graduate and Sterling Heights native, finished in fifth place in the three-meter and one-meter diving competitions at the NCAA Division II finals March 12-15 in Columbia, Mo.

“I was pretty excited about it,” Bolt, a sophomore, said about his performance.

“I worked really hard; I trained with my coach a lot and just focused on what I had to do. I would go over it in my head when I wasn’t practicing, and that helped.”

Wayne State swim coach Sean Peters said that hard work was evident in Bolt’s steady improvement from his freshman season to this year.

“He certainly has grown a lot this year. He’s definitely matured,” Peters said. “Cayce had a successful first year here, and I think he took it to the next level.”

Bolt also won both events at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championships this season. Last year, he won the three-meter title at the GLIAC Championships and finished in fourth in the one-meter before eventually taking sixth in the three-meter and 13th in the one-meter at the NCAA Division II finals.

A slight midseason setback — he broke a toe in practice and missed a few weeks of competition in January — nearly hindered his improvement, but his focus and work ethic kept him from being deterred.

“I certainly was impressed with how he handled himself,” Peters said. “I thought that made it that much more impressive. He came back like he had nothing to lose.”

Bolt said the injury was painful and that, “being off the board gets you out of the groove.” But he had no trouble returning to top form, especially under the tutelage of Wayne State diving coach Kelly LaCroix.

“Every time I improve, it’s because of her,” Bolt said.

With the season now over, there’s just one thing on Bolt’s mind: continuing to improve through hard work.

“I’m about to start working out for next year,” he said just a couple of weeks after the season ended. “I’m going to go train, learn new things, and hopefully, improve. I would hope to be first or second in the nation next year.”

He’s already made a believer out of Peters.

“I can definitely see him doing that,” the coach said, referring to Bolt winning a national title. “I still think he needs to improve his overall consistency. When he’s on, he can put up some major scores, and you have to be able to put up those kinds of dives from start to finish.

“And if he can do that, then yes, he will be a national championship contender these next two years.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jon Malavolti at jmalavolti@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1040.