'Courageous' diver impacts team

Originally a swimmer, sophomore Alex Burns didn't make the shift to diving competitively until his freshman year in high school. Since then, Burns has improved each year, a trend that head coach Jeff Huber hopes will continue.\n"It's hard to imagine, I think he's still trying to come to terms with how good he has gotten," Huber said. "He's 100 percent better than he was last year. And not just better as a diver, but I think as a person. He knows how capable he is, how strong he is, how much energy he's got and that's probably the greatest improvement of all."\nBurns, a native of Elletsville, Ind., first tried diving in junior high, but he said it wasn't what he initially expected.\n"In seventh grade I was on the swim team and they had sign ups for diving, so I signed up for both," Burns said. "I just thought it was like jumping off the board."\nAt Edgewood High School, Burns' coach spurred his interest in the sport by teaching him the fundamentals of diving. Burns went on to write himself into the Edgewood record books, establishing a school record for one-meter diving and becoming a three-time high school sectional champion. When it came to college, Burns wanted to stay in the state and go to a school with a reputable diving program. IU provided a perfect match.\n"Diving was one of the main reasons," Burns said. "I believe we have one of the best diving clubs in all of the colleges in the nation."\nIU also proved the source of one of Burns' main influences, former Hoosier diver Mike Collier.\n"Mike Collier has all the records on the record board," Burns said. "I used to watch him dive and just be mesmerized by his diving. A lot of great divers went here, but I think Mike Collier was my best influence as a diver and he's probably the one I look up to most."\nNow competing in his second season on the squad, Burns already credits the coaching of Huber as having the greatest impact on his diving.\n"I think Jeff Huber probably has had the biggest influence on me," Burns said. "He's the one that taught me to control my emotions and control my fear level off the diving board, to not hesitate even if I'm afraid. (Under Huber) I've improved a lot. Just from my freshman year to this year I've learned a lot."\nHuber said Burns has become an integral part of the team.\n"I think he brings a lot to the team," Huber said. "He has shown himself to be a very hardworking, extremely courageous, gutty diver, especially in practice. Here's a guy that was afraid to stand backwards on the 10-meter tower last year and now is not just doing dives, but is doing them well. He's a very talented athlete and he really adds a lot to our program."\nTeammate sophomore Marc Carlton agreed and said Burns is ready to be a top-notch competitor.\n"He's got a whole lot of talent," Carlton said. "He can really rip hard and when he gets up and down, he can definitely get tens on a lot of dives. I love watching him because in practice he'll drill dives for nines all the time. I'm just waiting for him to do it in the meet and I think once he starts doing it and figures out how to compete a little better, he's going to start drilling all of his dives."\nBurns, a general studies major with an emphasis on computer science, hopes to go into the network administration field. But he is now focused on becoming an even better diver.\n"I think I can at least double my potential," Burns said. "I've learned a lot of stuff this year, I still have a little bit to learn. But I think I'm going to stick it out and just keep on rolling"