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By Marty Stewart

Published: Wednesday, January 30, 2013, 9:00 p.m.
Updated: Wednesday, January 30, 2013

JB Kolod graduated from Fox Chapel Area High School in 2011 and he left with a slew of school records in diving.

Now a sophomore at the University of Virginia, Kolod is continuing to leave a trail of broken diving records.

And he's accomplished this despite missing half of the season because of mononucleosis.

“I was diagnosed with mono last fall and missed a couple of months,” he said. “I wasn't sure what I would be able to do when I came back.

It took me awhile to get back to 100 percent but when I did, I knew it would be a good year.”

That was an understatement.

On Jan. 5, he broke the school record on the 3-meter springboard at the Tennessee Diving Invitational. In the finals, he earned a fifth-place finish.

“JB had a solid performance,” UVA diving coach Rich McDonald said. “He looked great and he beat numerous All-Americans throughout the weekend.”

On Jan. 25, Kolod won the 3-meter and broke the school record he had just set.

In the process, he beat Logan Shinholser,a two-time ACC champion and Olympic trial diver.

“I was happy with my performance,” Kolod said. “Specifically, my consistency was much better than in my freshman year. I'm more confident this year. I learned from my experiences last year.”

Kolod qualified for and competed at the U.S. National Diving Championships this past summer.

“I was happy I went and it definitely helped me,” he said. “I competed against a lot of divers I'll compete against in the ACC and it was a good experience.”

It didn't take a lot to get Kolod, an economics major, to commit to Virginia after graduation.

“It was a really good fit,” Kolod said. “The academics were what I was looking for, the campus is beautiful, the coach is great and my teammates are awesome. It was a place where I could see myself living for the next four years. I thought I could get a lot better here as far as my diving and so far, that has been the case.”

Kolod hasn't been able to get back to see his former teammates at FC compete but he's still been following the team.

“I keep in touch with (FC diving coach) Vernon Yenick and he keeps me updated,” he said. “I'm proud of the FC swim team and especially proud of how the divers have been performing this year. The team has been improving so much the last few years. I'll be rooting for them when the WPIAL championships start.”

And with over two years left at UVA, look for those diving records to keep falling as Kolod keeps getting better.

Marty Stewart is a sports editor for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-782-2123 or mstewart@tribweb.com.

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