Fresno State Athletics
Swimming & Diving
- Title:
- Diving Coach
- Phone:
- 559-278-5102
Last Updated:Â May 27, 2025
Taryn Patrick enters her 18th season as Fresno State's diving coach in 2025-26Â season. She joined the Swimming & Diving team along with head coach Jeanne Fleck in 2008 as the program was reinstated. Patrick's divers have broken school, meet and championship records on all three boards while consistently earning multiple qualifications every year for the NCAA Zone Diving meet.
in 2025, Patrick led junior Grace Ally to her first-ever NCAA appearence of her career with the platform, placing 46th with a score of 181.95. Ally returned to the MW conference finals in the 3-meter placing fifth and a consolation appearence in the 1-meter and platform.Â
Patrick saw great success in newcomer Natalia Bedolla, as the junior was named MW Diver of the Week (Jan. 28), the programs first diver since 2022 in Silvia Alessio. In Bedolla's first conference championship the junior qualified into the platform and 1-meter finals, placing fifth and seventh, respectively.Â
Both divers saw an NCAA Zone's appearance, but Ally's ninth place finish in the platform (472.30) secured her spot at NCAA's.Â
In 2024, Patrick led sophomore Grace Ally to a record breaking season. Ally was the first of Patrick's divers to qualify into finals for all three diving principles at Mountain West Championships this season. Ally earned a program record of 321.10 points in the platform, good for a second-place podium finish. Ally was also named All-MW in all three dives.Â
In 2022, senior Yuliya Tykha and junior Silvia Alessio each competed at the Zone E Diving Championships where Tykha competed on the 1-Meter, 3-Meter and Platform with Alessio competing on the 1-Meter & 3-Meter. Tykha was the 'Dogs highest placer finishing 16th on the Platform and 18th on the 3-Meter advancing to the finals in each event. Tykha was named All-Mountain West after taking second on the 1-Meter and fifth on the Platform at the Mountain West Championships.
In 2021, Tykha finished 16th at the Zone E Diving Championships on the 1-Meter & 3-Meter. In addition, Tykha placed third at the MW Championship on the platform, fifth on the 1-Meter and sixth on the 3-Meter to earn Al-MW honors on all three disciplines. Sophomore Silvia Alessio earned All-MW honors after taking seventh on the 3-Meter and eighth on the 1-Meter at the MW Championship.
In 2019-20, Tykha earned CSCAA Scholar All-America honors and finished ninth on platform and 16th on the 3-Meter at the Zone E Division Regional. She became the first Bulldog since 2014 to advance to the NCAA Championships that were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and earned All-MW honors on both the 3-Meter & Platform.
Patrick helped lead the 'Dogs to a program-best fifth place finish at the MW Championship in 2018-19. All three of her divers earned points in each of the events they took part in at the conference meet, with junior Irina Nikolaeva earning All-Conference honors on 1-meter for the second consecutive year after placing sixth overall with a program championship-record score of 295.25. Senior Kelli Funk and freshman Yuliya Tykha, who joined the team during the spring semester, each earned points on all three boards at the conference meet with Funk making the B Final on each board.
Nikolaeva represented the Bulldogs at the NCAA Zone Diving meet and reached the final on 1-meter after just missing the final on 3-meter. Nikolaeva missed the first half of the year due to injury but still combined for six wins on 1-meter and 3-meter in the regular season and earned a MW Diver of the Week honor. Funk was named MW Diver of the Week twice and had eight wins in dual meets, sweeping both springboards three times, and earned NCAA Zone qualifying scores on 1-meter and 3-meter.
In 2017-18 Patrick's squad qualified three divers for the NCAA Zone meet for the second consecutive season. The three Bulldog divers on the 2017-18 roster - Serena Sedillo, Irina Nikolaeva, and Kelli Funk - each earned All-MW honors as well, with Sedillo named All-MW on both 3-meter and platform. As a sophomore Sedillo placed third overall on 3-meter at the MW championships with a program-record championship meet score of 329.10, and during the regular season she won the platform competition among 17 competitors at the Trojan Diving Invitational.
Sedillo and Funk both advanced to the platform final at the NCAA Zone meet, with Funk finishing in 12th place among 38 divers. Sedillo narrowly missed reaching the final on 3-meter while Nikolaeva led the 'Dogs on 1-meter at the NCAA Zone meet. By virtue of qualifying for the NCAA Zone meet and recording a semester GPA of 3.50, Funk was selected as CSCAA Scholar All-American honorable mention. Â
In her ninth season as the head diving coach at Fresno State, Patrick also led three Bulldog divers to the NCAA Zone E Diving Regional meet. Senior Shelbie Holden qualified for NCAA Zones on all three boards for the third consecutive season. Holden recorded a fifth place finish on Platform at the Mountain West Championship meet to earn Mountain West All-Conference honors for the first time in her career. Sophomore transfer Kelli Funk and freshman Serena Sedillo qualified for NCAA Zones on all three boards in their first seasons as Bulldogs as well. Sedillo recorded the highest finish at NCAA Zones with a 12th place finish on Platform, after qualifying for finals with a 10th place finish in the preliminary round.
During Patrick’s eighth season she led junior diver Shelbie Holden to her second NCAA Zone E Diving Regional meet appearance on all three boards. Holden placed 55th on the 1-meter springboard, 46th on the 3-meter springboard and 24th on platform.
In Patrick's seventh season as the head diving coach at Fresno State, Shelbie Holden was top 10 on all 3 boards at conference, and it was Lacie Ruth's first year that she scored points at conference. The year before, senior diver Hannah Prigge made her second-straight appearance at the NCAA National Championship meet where she earned All-American honors. After finishing the Mountain West Championship meet with two fourth place finishes, Prigge qualified for the NCAA Zone E Diving Regional. Prigge had a second place finish on Platform and an eighth place finish on the 1-Meter to help her qualify for NCAA National Championship meet. Freshman Shelbie Holden performed well at the Mountain West Championship meet, finishing 12th on Platform.
Hannah Prigge reached her first NCAA National Championship meet in 2013 where she was named an NCAA Honorable Mention All-American. Prigge placed second in the Platform dive at MW and third at the NCAA Zones qualifying for the NCAA meet. Patrick has invested so much time into her divers and it's evident by the progress the divers are making. Each diver set new career best scores this season topped with Luke setting the new 1-meter school record and Prigge setting the 3-meter school record.
In 2012 Patrick helped Prigge become the first WAC Platform Champion diver that Fresno State has had. Prigge scored a 285.15 in the final round, but lead the charge all competition finishing first in the preliminaries as well. Patrick led Luke and Prigge to their third and second consecutive Zone E competitions, respectively, but not before both divers broke Fresno State school records. Luke set the new 1-meter dual meet dive record scoring a 294.70 and Prigge set the new 3-meter dual meet dive record with the score of 317.05.
To kick off her third season Patrick led the Bulldog divers to an impressive win over Fresno Pacific. They swept the Sunbirds with one-two finishes in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events. In their first platform event of the year at the extremely competitive Wildcat Diving Invite, all three divers finished in the top 16. The Dogs also performed well at the UCLA Diving Invite with all divers making the top 25 in three days of competition through 3-meter, 1-meter and platform diving.
Patrick made history when two of her divers qualified to compete in the NCAA Zone E competition. Stacey Luke returned two compete for the second consecutive year and newcomer Prigge qualified and competed in her first. Luke dove into the finals of the 1-meter competition and earned 14th. Under Patrick's leadership the Dogs continue to make big strides.
In her second season Patrick coached her divers to a dominating performance in the Bulldogs very first dual meet victory against Fresno Pacific in which the Dogs took the top four spots in the 1-meter and the top five spots in the 3-meter dive.
In addition to many individual victories and first place team finishes, Patrick carried the team through its second conference championship, where her leading diver Luke advanced to the finals in two of the three diving events where she captured a seventh place finish in the platform dive and an eighth place overall finish in the 1-meter dive at the WAC Championships to earn Fresno State crucial championship points that helped boost them to an eighth place overall finish.
In her inaugural season during the `Dogs 2008-09 campaign, Patrick carried the team through its first conference championship meet, where her leading 1-meter freshman diver Kendra Weeks, captured a 16th place overall finish in the event at the WAC Championships to earn Fresno State's first point for the swimming and diving team at the conference meet.
Patrick was named Fresno State head women's diving coach July 30, 2008 after completing her position as interim diving coach at the University of Kentucky.
Under Patrick, the Wildcats boasted two All-American divers with one sixth place finish at the NCAA Championships on the one-meter and another NCAA appearance on the one-meter. Patrick also coached the Kentucky Dive Club, and led two girls to junior nationals in the summer of 2008.
Patrick attended the University of Kentucky and graduated in 2007 a successful diver and record holder. In 2015 Patrick was inducted to the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame, where she was a five-time SEC champion, five-time All-American and an NCAA champion with the Wildcats as a diver.
In the 2006-07 season, Patrick earned All-America status on the one-meter and platform events in her final NCAA Championship. She placed seventh on the one-meter and third on the platform and captured her third consecutive SEC Championship on the platform at the conference meet. Patrick also took the top title on the one-meter, while placing second on the three-meter. She was named the SEC Female Diver of the Year for the third consecutive season and set career-best marks on the one-meter and three-meter boards. She earned two first place finishes during dual meet season.
In 2006, Patrick became Kentucky's first-ever National Champion winning the platform event at the NCAA Championships, setting school and NCAA records as she scored a 335.20 in the finals. Patrick gained her second All-America honor after finishing eighth in the one-meter diving event and captured her second-consecutive SEC Women's Diver of the Year Award after repeating as platform champion at the SEC Championships. She also placed 15th on the three-meter at the SEC Championships and took second on the platform at the NCAA Zone Diving Championship hosted by UK in March. Patrick finished first in the three-meter event in the tri-meet against Alabama and LSU and was named to 2006 SEC Academic Honor Roll.
In the 2004-05 season, Patrick earned SEC Diver of the Year after winning the one-meter and platform events at the SEC Championships, as well as an honorable mention All-America selection honor in platform diving after placing ninth at the NCAA Championships, where she also took 17th in the one-meter event and 33rd in the three-meter event. Patrick also swept the one- and three-meter events against Louisville and Arkansas and won the three-meter and platform events against Alabama. She placed first on the platform at the Georgia Tech Diving Invitational as well.
In 2003-04, she took 11th on the platform at the U.S. Olympic trials and placed 15th on the platform at the NCAA Championships while competing for Florida State. Continuing to rise, Patrick took second on the platform at the NCAA Zone Diving Meet and placed third on the one-meter and 11th on the three-meter at the ACC Championships.
Individual Accolades
- 2006 NCAA Champion - Platform Diving (first/only NCAA Champion at UK)
- NCAA Record Holder - Platform Diving - 335.20 (at the time of her Championship)
- SEC Record Holder on the platform
- Five-time SEC Champion (school record)
- Just the second diver in SEC history to three-peat on the platform
- UK record holder on the one-meter (6 dives) and platform (5 dives)
- Pre-College: High school All-American and member of Who's Who Among American High School Students.
- Best Collegiate Scores: One-meter: 337.60; Three-meter: 352.80; Platform: 335.20
