Matt Leone is in his 26th season as the diving coach for both the men's and women's programs at Colgate. During his tenure, Leone's divers have won numerous titles, both at the regional and national levels, and he has worked to make Colgate a nationally-recognized program.
A Colgate male diver won both the one-meter and three-meter events at each of the first four Patriot League Championship meets, and each time a Raider was named the Diver of the Meet. It happened again in 1996 and 1997, and in 1998 Jeff Roseman won both the one- and three-meters en route to earning Diver of the Meet accolades.
Sarah Soggs captured both the one- and three-meter titles in the women's competition in 1991, and was also named Diver of the Meet. Julianna Vetere earned the same award in 1993. In 1996, Jen Norton was named the Diver of the Meet after she made a huge comeback to win the three-meter championship. In 1998, Leone molded another champion, Cheryl Meltz, into the Patriot League Diver of the Meet after she captured both boards at the conference championship.
Leone has been honored several times at the league level, earning Patriot League Diving Coach of the Year accolades in 1991, 1993, 1996 and 1998. He has been named ECAC Diving Coach of the Year twice, in 1992 and 1993.
Prior to the inception of the Patriot League, the men's team captured eight straight Upper New York State titles from 1983 to 1990, and 15 out of a possible 18 gold medals. On the national level, Leone has placed a diver in the NCAA Division I men's championship five times during his career.
In 1990, Tim Burke became the first honorable-mention diving All-America at Colgate, and was a GTE/CoSIDA Academic all-District I At-Large selection.
Cheryl Meltz was named a CoSIDA Academic all-District I At-Large selection in 1997, and was voted to the GTE/CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large second team in 1998. Under Leone's guidance, she was also the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for swimming and diving in 1997 and 1998, and was an NCAA Woman of the Year finalist.
Leone coached Greg Sobo to seven league and four ECAC titles. Sobo reached the NCAA finals twice, and was an Olympic Fest finalist in 1995.
A 1971 graduate of Cornell University, Leone lettered three years as a diver, and was team captain as a senior. He received his master's degree in English from Cambridge University in 1973 after attending the prestigious institution as an American Keasbey Scholar. During that time, he was a two-time winner of the British National Springboard Championship on the one- and three-meter boards.
Leone came to Colgate from McGill University in Canada where he completed his doctoral work in English. He directs the Office of Summer and First-Year Programs at Colgate, and teaches in the English department.
Leone and his wife, Denise, reside in Hamilton with their two children, Anne and Peter.
