After a record-setting weekend, Florida senior Monica Dodson appeared to be losing her grip on a Southeastern Conference title Sunday.
The race for first place in the women’s platform finals at the SEC Championships was a close one, as Dodson once again battled Auburn divers Vennie Dantin and Anna Aguero, whom she had beaten for first place in the 3-meter competition just two days before.
It seemed Aguero might take the title until the fourth round, when Dodson overtook her with a dive that made UF coach Donnie Craine pump his fists in the air and left him speechless.
“Monica winning, I don’t have words for it,” Craine said.
“I’ve always loved my back two-and-a-half pike. It hasn’t always been my best dive but my most consistent,” Dodson added. “I knew if I could get over my nerves, I’d be OK.”
Dodson finished with two more high-scoring dives to once again bring the gold medal home for the Florida women’s team.
“Top three on these two boards was definitely my goal,” Dodson said. “I knew I had a shot to win, but it was going to be a hard contest.”
Her score of 325.2 was, for the second time in three days, a personal, school and SEC record.
Junior Kaylee Doback and freshman Danielle Risley also scored points with 10th- and 11th-place finishes in the preliminary round.
The men had three scoring finishes, taking seventh, 10th and 14th in the prelims. Junior Anthony Lewark finished seventh in the finals despite an injured shoulder that prevented him from practicing his platform dives.
“He did a real good job pulling it all together,” Craine said.
The SEC honored Craine with his second straight and third career SEC Women’s Diving Coach of the Year, and Dodson received SEC Women’s Diver of the Year.
“It’s unbelievable,” Craine said. “Monica did a lot of it, but the other two also had a lot to do with it.”
The men earned 49 points throughout the weekend, which puts them in a distant third place behind Auburn and Tennessee going into Wednesday’s swimming championships. The women are in second place behind Auburn with 89 points.
