Mike Guzewicz ventured into the pool area on a recruiting mission. The Weedsport diving coach had just heard about a new diver who had moved from Pennsylvania. Word on the street was that she had some talent, and the swim coach asked Guzewicz to take a look.

One look at Katie Scarbrough was all Guzewicz needed.

“She had a look and demeanor of determination,” Guzewicz said. “The athletic ability was pretty apparent.”

Guzewicz was “pretty impressed.” She had all the tools to be a standout on the varsity squad - except Scarbrough was only in sixth grade at the time.

But talent is talent. And Katie Scarbrough has it. So when she entered seventh grade, the Weedsport coaches petitioned to have her considered for varsity. Permission granted.

“I remember my first meet, being like, ‘Wow, this is something,'” Scarbrough said. “I remember winning one of my first meets in seventh grade, and I was so happy. It was so exciting.”

Fast forward six seasons later, and you find a dominant diver on the verge of making the leap to Division-I competition. Not what you might expect from a former gymnast who had only a week of diving lessons that were “nothing serious.”

She got serious pretty quickly.

“I was just in there having fun,” said Scarbrough, who has committed to the Towson University diving squad for 2008. “It looked like something I was really going to be good at.”

She was right.

The results speak for themselves: Two trips to the Empire State Games and six varsity letters (in diving alone, plus she#'ll accumulate seven more from track and field and cross country by the time she graduates).

It wasn#'t easy, though. Being a seventh-grader on a varsity team can be nerve-racking for anyone. Try doing it on a springboard, in dead silence, with all eyes on you. And don#'t forget, she#'s the girl on a team full of boys.

“It#'s a scary sport, if you really stop and think about what you#'re doing and the environment in which you#'re performing,” said Guzewicz, who used to dive for the Warriors and is now in the Weedsport Hall of Fame. “There#'s a fear factor.

“It#'s a sport where it is physically demanding, but more mentally demanding,”

Scarbrough knows that feeling.

“Sometimes I wish people weren#'t paying attention, and that no one was watching except the judges,” she said. “It#'s little nerve-racking when you#'re doing a new dive that you haven#'t (performed in competition) yet.”

New dives, though, are what keep Scarbrough coming back. There#'s always something new to learn #- adding twists, adding flips, new dive positions. But with so much trial, there's bound to be some error.

“It#'s a little rough sometimes,” she said. “When you smack on the water you can get some nice bruises. People ask, ‘Where did you get those from?' and then I have to explain.”

The black and blue don#'t stop her, though.

“I#'ve learned over the years that pain is temporary; it goes away,” she said.

That#'s a good attitude to have, considering what she faces next in her diving career. At the college level, in addition to the 1-meter board, divers compete off a 3-meter board as well.

Even though she has limited experience from that height, Scarbrough is still ready to tackle the new challenge.

“I#'m really excited. It#'s a lot different from high school diving,” Scarbrough said. “I don#'t really know how they practice, but the coach seems really nice. It sounds like a lot of fun.”

Just like it did back in sixth grade.