A Lobo diver has won the 1-meter and 3-meter competitions in all four meets the team has competed in this season, and garnered eight gold medals, seven silver medals and two bronze medals.
However, the team was without a coach until less than two weeks ago.
The UNM diving team was looking forward to another successful season, as it is home to the 1-meter and 3-meter 2003 Mountain West Conference champions.
But after training started in September, head diving coach Jeff DiNicola announced he accepted a coaching job in Nebraska.
"He told us he was leaving on Thursday and he left on Tuesday," 1-meter champion Becca Barras said.
The divers didn't waste any time and took matters into their own hands. They became coaches for one another, but said it was frustrating and hard to get motivated at times.
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"We started looking for a coach right away," sophomore Kaley Knafelc said. "And we just kept practicing."
The team went nearly six weeks without a coach.
Meanwhile, a former platform specialist from the University of Michigan, Carlos Castillo, was looking for a job in the Washington D.C. area.
"I wasn't happy because I wasn't coaching," Castillo said. "The job here just happened to open up that week and it came at the perfect time in my life."
Castillo said he feels lucky that he inherited such a strong team.
"It's pretty much the strongest team in the conference," he said. "So I have a lot to work with."
Castillo was the head coach of a high school in Michigan for two years. In his last year, he led four girls to the state diving finals, including the state individual champion.
Castillo said he was incredibly impressed with the work ethic of the Lobos.
"They were in here working out everyday without a coach," he said. "I've never seen initiative like that - not even in college."
Freshman Joanna Garcia said the women on the team interviewed Castillo over a conference phone call.
"He had a lot of experience and he sounded like he would push us hard," she said.
In every meet this season except for one, Barras and senior Tracey Berghian, the reigning 3-meter champion, have taken turns earning the silver and gold medals in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives.
"This past weekend they also did really well and I can't even say that it had anything to do with me," Castillo said.
Barras won the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, Berghian took the silver in both events and Knaflec took the bronze in the 1-meter at the UNLV Invitational.
Two days later in San Diego, Barras took the gold in the 1-meter and the silver in the 3-meter, while Berghian filled the remaining top-two spots. Knafelc came in third in the 3-meter.
"Traveling with him this weekend was great," Knafelc said. "We're getting a lot more comfortable now. We're getting used to his coaching style and he's getting used to us."
Castillo and the Lobo divers will be back in action Saturday at the Northern Arizona University.
