HALL OF FAMERS & NCAA PARTICIPANTS Valerie Carter (1984-87), a 2006 NAU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, didn’t know it but, right after the ball dropped to start 2006, the ball started rolling on her induction. Keeping it a complete secret, Joe Carter contacted the NAU Athletic Media Relations office in early January to inquire about nominating his wife for the honor, and from there, Carter’s numerous accomplishments in diving at NAU began to surface. Carter (formerly Simmons) qualified for the NCAA Championships twice, becoming the first athlete in the program to ever qualify, and also became the school record-holder in both the one and three-meter events as well as the Pac-West Conference champion in both events as a junior. Carter was the team co-captain as a senior, all-academic Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference honoree and was twice named the team’s most outstanding diver. Carter didn’t just receive a degree, pack up and leave. She has made Flagstaff her home, and NAU her career. She has four different degrees from the university in physical therapy including an advanced master’s and a doctorate. Carter currently works as an associate professor in the Physical Therapy Department, and also owns and operates Carter Rehabilitation in town along with her husband.
April Diez-Walker (1992-96), a first-ballot inductee into the NAU Athletics Hall of Fame, was the first female swimmer to compete at the NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships and is the only swimming All-American in school history. Diez-Walker was a two-time NCAA Championships qualifier and still holds three individual school records - the 500 freestyle, 1,000 freestyle and 1,650 freestyle. A 1994 NCAA All-American in the 1,650freestyle, she finished sixth overall at the NCAA meet and placed ninth in the 500-yard freestyle, earning honorable-mention AllAmerica honors. She was also a championship finalist at the 1993 World University Games in Buffalo, N.Y. Diez-Walker was also named the top female scholar-athlete in the nation following the 1993-94 academic year based on her athletic and academic accomplishments (a perfect 4.00 grade-point average). The former April Diez was named Female Swimmer of the Year following the 1995 Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference Championships after winning the 1,650 free, 200 free, 500 free and 400 individual medley (setting an NAU record in the process). A native of Phoenix, she earned her degree in sociology at NAU, completed law school at the University of California, Berkeley, before moving back to Phoenix.
A 2007 graduate of NAU, Alexis Buckley was the first female swimmer in 12 years to participate in the NCAA Championships when she qualified as a junior in the 1,650 freestyle with a time of 16:27.12, second only to All-American April Diez’s time of 16:18.13. Buckley was the first NAU swimmer to earn a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) title, garnering two of them since the Lumberjacks joined the WAC in 2004-05. As a junior, Buckley won the 1,650 freestyle at the WAC Championships and as a senior she set a school-record time of 4:23.73 en route to winning her second title in the 400 individual medley. At the 2006 NCAA Championships, Buckley placed 19th in the 1,650 freestyle and 33rd in the prelims of the 500 freestyle.
Pam Rogers, a 2007 NAU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, was the Head Coach for the swimming and diving program from 1983-96, and also the first coach of the program. Rogers won five Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference titles during her tenure and was responsible for the addition of the men’s program, which also won five conference titles. Rogers was the first woman in the sport of swimming and diving to be the head coach of a combined men’s and women’s Division I team. The team finished 29th at the 1994 NCAA Championships behind All-American April Diez’s performance in the 500 freestyle and the mile. Rogers coached 39 women’s conference champions in individual events and 47 Golden Eagle Scholar Athletes. She was a four-time All-American, a two-time national champion and an alternate for the U.S. Olympic Team in 1976, and went on to coach ASU to two national and four conference titles.
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