Heath Ogawa, a Lake Forest College diver from 2015-19, was listed among the top 100 student-athletes in the 100-year history of the Midwest Conference (MWC) on Thursday.
As the MWC continues to celebrate 100 years of intercollegiate competition, it announced the release of the Centennial Celebration Top 100 on February 26. The Top 100 highlights the athletic and academic achievements of 100 former student-athletes from the fifteen institutions that currently sustain, or at some point in history maintained full membership with the league. The Top 100 reveal began on March 1 with the unveiling of honorees in chronological order by their respective class years. The league posts two honorees each weekday on its website and social media accounts.
Ogawa is the only male diver in MWC history to be named Division III Diver of the Year by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America – and he did it twice. The five-time All-American and three-time Honorable Mention All-American won 58 of 83 events over the course of his career and was defeated just once in a dual meet.
Ogawa captured seven of a possible eight conference championships, winning the 3-meter event four times and finishing as the runner-up in the 1-meter competition as a freshman before taking the title each of the next three years. He was named MWC Diver of the Year three times and owns the league's highest scores off both boards after establishing a new 3-meter record at the 2016 conference meet and breaking both marks at each of the next two MWC Championships.
To qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships, divers need to perform well at a regional meet and Ogawa made the cut all four years. He went on to post an All-American finish (top 8) in the 1-meter competition in 2016 and earn Honorable Mention All-American accolades (places 9-16) off the higher board as a freshman and in both events as a sophomore. Ogawa claimed his first national title in the 3-meter event at the 2018 NCAA Championships and, after adding a third-place finish in the 1-meter competition, was named CSCAA Division III Diver of the Year. He earned the diver of the year honor again as a senior after placing first in 1-meter diving and fourth off the 3-meter board.
Successful in the classroom as well, Ogawa earned Academic All-MWC honors as a junior and senior. He graduated from Lake Forest with a degree in finance.
