Trinity University

Stan Randall will enter his 21st year as the Trinity Tigers diving coach during the 2021-22 season.

Since his appointment in August 2002, three Trinity divers have captured NCAA Division III Women’s Championships. In 2010, Coach Randall guided two of the divers to the national crown. Lindsay Martin won the NCAA 1-meter event, and Hayley Emerick took home the top honor on the 3-meter board. Martin was selected as the NCAA Women’s Diver of the Meet, and Coach Randall was tabbed as the 2010 NCAA Division III Women’s Diving Coach of the Meet. Katarina Partalas finished third in the three-meter dive at the NCAA Championship to earn All-American status. 

Ruth Hahn won Trinity’s third national championship by dominating the 3-meter competition in 2012.

Emerick, a six-time All-American, was a finalist for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award in 2011 and was also the recipient of the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. 

During the 2021 abbreviated spring season, coach Randall saw two of his divers win Men and Women’s Diver of the Year. Katarina Partalas won the honor as a junior while Anthony Liva won the award for the second year in a row. With those accomplishments, the women have won the Diver of the Year award for the 16th year in a row and the men have captured the honor for the eighth consecutive season. 

Two of Coach Randall’s divers qualified for the 2020 NCAA Division III Championships before the event was canceled. Katarina Partalas and Maren Merwarth qualified for the women’s 1-meter and 3-meter boards at the NCAA Region 2 Diving Championships, hosted by Trinity in Hixon Natatorium. Merwarth and Partalas were also named to the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association All-America Team.

The Tiger divers contributed to the 2020 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) titles by Trinity’s men’s and women’s teams. 

Merwarth won SCAC Female Diver of the Year kudos for the second consecutive occasion. Anthony Liva was tabbed as the SCAC Male Diver of the Year. 

15 of Coach Randall’s divers have earned All-America honors. In addition to the trio of national women’s champions, Sarah Kate Mrkonich was a three-time All-American from 2015-2017. Ryan Cook was a four-time men’s All-American from 2005-2008. Daniel Valmassei became a men’s All-American in 2019 and was an Honorable Mention All-American at the 2018 Championships.  

Coach Randall is the current president of the Professional Diving Coaches Association. He is also the co-founder of Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) diving in the United States.

A native of Austin, Texas, Coach Randall grew up in Columbus, Ohio, and attended The Ohio State University. He moved to San Antonio in 1995 and has been the director of the Alamo Area Aquatics Association diving program since that time. At Alamo Area Aquatics, he has been preparing and developing top-level athletes for a future in university diving, or careers in the sport by way of a mentoring program for prospective coaches.

Coach Randall is truly one of the elite age-group diving coaches in the world, having developed many local, state, national, and international diving champions. He has 53 years of coaching experience, starting at age 12. His earliest national-level success came in 1974 (and again in 1976) when his divers were selected for the United States Junior Olympic Teams.

He has coached numerous members of U.S. National Diving Teams. In 1982, Coach Randall had his first international gold medalist at the Can-Am-Mex Games. He was also the recipient of the United States Age Group Coach of the Year Award the same year. His internationally famous Red Roof Inn Diving Team won the U.S. national team title in 1984 and again in 1986.

In 1986, Coach Randall was selected to be the U.S. national team coach responsible for an American squad which competed in Aachen, Germany. Two years later, he was appointed the U.S. senior diving coach for a national team trip to Moscow, Russia. Since then, Coach Randall has coached American teams at international meets in Sweden, Austria, Mexico, England, Canada, and Switzerland. Coach Randall has also conducted training camps and clinics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Montreal, Quebec; Sweden; Austria; and Denmark.

His hobbies include horseback riding, photography, scuba diving, and backpacking. He enjoys participating in all of these activities in San Antonio and the surrounding countryside.

Coach Randall will provide future Trinity University divers with the opportunity to learn from one of the nation’s finest teachers. Any diver seeking a superior undergraduate academic program and an exciting athletics experience should consider attending Trinity University. 

In addition to receiving a superb undergraduate education, each Trinity diver will have the opportunity to reach his or her full potential in the sport, by virtue of Coach Randall’s professional expertise and guidance.

Getting to Know Coach Stan Randall Article