Ellet freshman Elijah Harper diving toward success in new sport

When Ellet freshman Elijah Harper steps onto a diving board he does so as a novice in the sport and as a cancer survivor.

Harper, 14, is in his fourth month diving and is continuing to learn how to compete in a new sport with nine years and counting of gymnastics experience.

Harper impresses his mother each day, and is set to compete in the Division I district diving meet Thursday at Cleveland State University's Busbey Natatorium.

"Elijah has a testimony of hope and strength," Pepin Harper said of her son. "He is a brain tumor cancer survivor and a true walking miracle. By the grace of God, he is still here with us and doing things no one ever thought would be possible."

Elijah Harper was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor called medulloblastoma in June of 2015. He went through three surgeries, two spinal taps, chemotherapy and radiation treatment before he finished treatments in the Fall of 2016 at the age of 9.

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Harper, an Akron resident, started doing gymnastics in his backyard when he was 5, and stayed active through his treatments by doing back flips and handstands. He has trained at the Riverfront YMCA in Cuyahoga Falls, Gymnastics World in Broadview Heights and International Gymnastics Training Center in Akron.

Harper was featured in articles by the Beacon Journal, Akron Children's Hospital and USA Gymnastics as a child, and is now a teenager focusing on two sports.

"I was already doing gymnastics, so I kind of had experience a little bit and I decided to do something new and try diving," he said.

Harper said his favorite dive is the inward and the most difficult dive is the reverse. His top 11-dive score is 226.85 points on Jan. 29 in the Solon Diving Invitational.

Harper said his coaches have helped him get over the fear of flipping and diving into the water. He credited them and his mother for giving him confidence as he continues to learn and improve as a diver.

Pepin Harper is appreciative of American Flyers Diving club coaches Marc Cahalane, Taylor Epstein and Dan Miller and the work they have done with her son. Cahalane is also the University of Akron diving coach, Epstein serves as Solon's diving coach and Miller is Hudson's diving coach.

"Taylor and Marc have really helped him with the beginning stages of diving," said Pepin Harper, a Stow assistant swim coach, a personal trainer and a fitness instructor.

"Dan, Taylor and Marc are very good coaches. Taylor is always so patient with Elijah and works really hard with him. Elijah is learning a lot very fast."

Epstein said she started coaching Harper in November 2021. Harper practices at the University of Akron's Ocasek Natatorium.

"Elijah is such a quick learner when it comes to transitioning from gymnastics to diving," Epstein said. "It is amazing because normally you don't see that quick of a transition. There are a lot of similarities, but it is very different because mainly gymnasts are used to landing on their feet and not their head. Trying to get them to go into the water head first is a little bit of a challenge, but he took on that challenge and he didn't really have a problem with it.

"He is always willing to try anything that we tell him, and if he has any fear he doesn't really show it. He is willing to try anything new and goes out there and does his best."

Epstein, a former diver who graduated from Solon High School in 2011 and from Canisius College in 2015, said she focuses on "positive feedback" as she instructs her student-athletes.

"Elijah takes well to that," Epstein said. "It is incredible how far he has come, and knowing that he is only a freshman and what he is going to be able to do come his sophomore, junior and senior year."

Harper was able to work with Olympic athletes in December of 2016 after he met 1996 Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu in the gym at Windemere Community Learning Center and she informed him that the Make-A-Wish Foundation was granting his wish to go to Colorado and train with the U.S. Men's National Gymnastics Team.

Harper flew to Colorado with his mother and brothers, Isaiah Harper and Noah Harper. Isaiah is now a sophomore at STEM High School who competes in cross country, basketball and track and field at Ellet. Noah is now a sixth-grade student at Chapel Hill Christian who loves to play basketball.

Elijah Harper was selected by Akron Children's Hospital as one of 13 Hero Zone participants for the Akron Marathon when he was 10 in September of 2017 for displaying courage and determination to overcome challenges and motivate runners through the Blue Line.

He was paired with then Cavaliers player Jeff Green at an Akron Children's Hospital event in October of 2017, and the Conductor’s Club, a subset of the Akron Railroad Club, gave him a Lionel train set as a Christmas gift in December of 2019.

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"From an athletic standpoint, there is a lot of skill that Elijah has from gymnastics that transfer to diving," Miller said. "He has been able to take to some of the fundamentals relatively quickly."

Harper trains alongside experienced divers from Archbishop Hoban, Aurora, Chagrin Falls, Highland, Hudson, Kenston, Kent Roosevelt, Revere, Solon, Tallmadge, Twinsburg, University School, Walsh Jesuit and Western Reserve Academy.

"I have definitely seen growth from Elijah over the course of the season," Miller said. "This is a new environment and a strange environment compared to what he was used to with gymnastics possibly. He is starting as a brand new athlete in this sport and he is training next to almost a dozen kids that are all-state performers from last high school season.

"To watch him come into his own and really embrace that even though he is new and some of these kids are trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials, we are still just one big team and he is part of that team now even if he has only been diving for three months."

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Ellet freshman Elijah Harper diving toward success in new sport