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Dodson leads Florida Divers at NCAA Zone Championships
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MELISSA PENDER Alligator Writer
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Senior Monica Dodson once again led the Florida diving teams at the
NCAA Zone Diving Championships in Athens, Ga., this weekend, making
it to the finals in three events and qualifying for the 2011
Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
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Dodson came in second in the platform competition Saturday behind
World Championship member Brittany Viola of Miami. The senior
finished in front of 2008 Olympian Haley Ishimatsu from Duke, with
a combined preliminary and finals score of 631.5.
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second-place finish in the platform competition is one of the
criteria for qualifying for the NCAA Championships, which will take
place March 17 in Austin, Texas.
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Dodson, the only UF diver to qualify for this year’s NCAA
Championships, has gone to the championships the past three years.
Coach Donnie Craine said the desire to qualify helped her achieve
her second-place finish.
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“Monica knew what she had to do, and she stepped up big time and
got it done,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing what she can
do against some of the best divers in the country.”
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Dodson needed resiliency after disappointing finishes Thursday and
Friday. She took 12th in the one-meter and ninth in the
three-meter, in which she won the gold medal at the SEC
Championships three weeks ago.
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“It was a battle from day one to get to this point,” she said. “I
knew I underperformed Friday and Saturday, so (I needed) to come
out and qualify on Sunday and help my team out.”
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Florida’s other women divers, junior Kaylee Doback and freshman
Danielle Risley, missed the finals in all three events.
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the men’s side, junior Anthony Lewark was the only Gator to reach
the finals, taking 17th in both Friday’s one-meter competition and
Saturday’s three-meter. Senior Jonathan Speed was the
second-leading scorer for Florida, finishing 21st in the
three-meter and 24th in the one-meter.
