Whenever Ashanée Dickerson steps onto the floor, steadies her body on the balance beam or swings from the uneven bars, her effort is 100 percent.
But unfortunately for the junior all-around competitor, the scores she receives do not always match her intensity.
While Dickerson has bounced back considerably this year from a sophomore slump, her scores have lacked consistency.
In nine meets competing in all-around, she has four totals of at least 39.575, but four lower than or equal to 39.275.
“She’s human and she’s been for the whole season lights out as an all-arounder,” coach Rhonda Faehn said.
“We don’t expect the athlete to hold that every single competition.”
At the Southeastern Conference Championships on March 24, Dickerson had an up-and-down afternoon, posting a 39.20 to place 11th out of 17 all-around competitors.
Beginning her competition on beam, she wobbled on her series and took a step on her dismount after trying to move too fast. On floor exercise, she struggled with finding the right timing.
Dickerson tallied a 9.775 on both events.
“The floor itself, I’m not making excuses for anybody, but it seemed like everybody had trouble adjusting to the floor a little bit,” Faehn said. “Our athletes were working it too hard and then realized it, so then [Dickerson] went easier on the last pass and came up a little short.”
After resting during Florida’s second bye period, Dickerson recorded a 9.9 on vault to help the Gators make a furious rally to the top of the leaderboard. Although she took a hop back on her landing, she said it was much better than taking an extra step.
“I just kind of did what I usually do in practice on vault,” Dickerson said. “What we’ve been working on is trying as hard as we could to get the landing.”
She struggled on bars to close out the competition, scoring a 9.75 after hitting her foot on the bar before taking a step on her dismount. Despite the low score, Faehn said she was impressed with Dickerson’s bars routine.
“She went too hard for the stick, so she came up short because she opened it up a little early,” Faehn said. “But her handstands were the best she’s done all year. She’s done a great job working on her execution and getting her handstands up.”
When No. 1 Florida heads to Raleigh, N.C., for the NCAA Regional this Saturday, Dickerson will look to avenge her dismal performance at regionals last year.
She posted a career-best 39.70 to win the all-around title by a margin of .25 points at the 2010 regionals, but the following season she stumbled on beam (8.475) to record a collegiate-worst 38.
“She always wants to be able to do the absolute best,” Faehn said.
“She’s going to come back and work on the little mistakes here and there. She continually strives each day in practice to try and get better.”
Junior Ashanée Dickerson spots her landing during a beam routine. She is looking to be more consistent as UF heads to NCAA Regionals.
