Thursday, February 10, 2011

Dodson Ready To Lead UF In SEC Diving on Friday

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The view from above is one of the places in Monica Dodson’s world where she feels most comfortable.
The world below gets quiet as she focuses on the task below. Everything slows down. It’s just her and a few motivating words that she carries with her to the top.
Dodson recently showed her father the view from her special place. Roger Dodson took a quick look and stepped back.
“You wouldn’t catch me do it,’’ said Roger, head football coach at Greenfield (Ind.) Central High. “I don’t know what it takes to do that.’’
The diving tower inside the O’Connell Center stands nearly 33 feet above the pool below. There will be a conga line of divers making their way to the top starting Friday when the SEC Diving Championships open.
Dodson is considered one of the favorites on the women’s side, hoping for a memorable end to her career at the O-Dome and the start of perhaps a strong run toward the NCAA Finals later this spring.
A senior from Franklin, Ind., Dodson had a strong performance at last year’s SEC Championships, finishing fourth on the platform, seventh on the 3-meter board and ninth on the 1-meter board.
She went on to finish eighth on the platform at the NCAA Championships, helping the Gator women win their first NCAA swimming and diving national title since 1982.
With her final meet at home the conference championships, Dodson can’t think of a better way to close out her career. While other divers will be trying to adjust to the boards and surroundings, Dodson will be in her comfort zone.
“I really hope I can take advantage of the advantage and end my season on a good note,’’ she said. “I’m one step ahead of every one else.’’
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Dodson grew up in an athletic family. Her two older brothers, Todd and Brock, both played college football. Her dad has been a football coach ever since Dodson can remember.
When her dad and brothers went out back to throw the football around, Monica usually wasn’t far behind.
“She could probably have been a linebacker for us,’’ Roger said. “She only knew one speed, and that was to go as hard and fast as she could.’’
That competitive nature led Dodson into gymnastics when she was 4, a sport she competed in for several years. However, when middle school rolled around, the school she attended didn’t have a gymnastics team. She started looking at other options.
That’s when Dodson gave up gymnastics and focused most of her energy on diving.
She made an instant splash, something that caught UF diving coach Donnie Craine’s attention the first time he saw her several years ago at a USA Swimming event in Midland, Texas.
Dodson was only about 14 at the time, but she was doing dives that much older athletes have trouble pulling off. She was also taking a beating as she hit the pool, but her daring approach made an impression on Craine.
“She is fearless,’’ Craine said. “There are a lot of kids that don’t like the smack. She does it until she gets it.’’
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Dodson knows that no matter how much she explains herself, some people won’t understand the rush she gets from leaping from the platform and doing twists and turns and then hitting the water head first.
That’s okay, she’s used to it. Roger still doesn’t know all the rules and regulations of the sport, but he is finally to the point where he knows whether it was a good dive or not. If not, he turns to his wife Kathleen and asks her.
“When I was young and naïve, my coach could tell me pretty much to do anything and I would do it,’’ she said. “To some extent, you kind of have to be that way. It takes a certain person to be able to feel comfortable up there. Anybody can go up there and jump off, but to enjoy it and feel comfortable about it, you’ve got to be different.’’
Dodson is different enough that she has gone cliff diving and has other adventures planned. But with her diving career coming to a close, she is preparing to launch herself full-time into pursuit of a career in sports broadcasting.
But that can wait for now. She wants to continue a strong senior season that saw her break the school record on the 3-meter board with a score of 362.11 against Virginia in October.
“My goals are definitely a little higher than they were last year,’’ Dodson said. “I know that if I do what I’m capable of doing, I should be at least top 3 on platform and spring board. I think I could win. It would be really cool if I could win. I don’t want to sit here and say I think I’m going to win, but I will be upset if I don’t finish in the top 3.’’
Craine thinks back to when he first saw Dodson, now 22. He sees a much different diver than the one he did several years ago in Texas. One of the first things he did once Dodson committed to UF was to devise a plan to that maximized her strengths and minimized some of the abuse her body was taking.
The changes helped Dodson develop into one of the country’s top divers.
“Every year Monica seems to have gotten better and more consistent in everything she is doing. She is about as consistent as she has ever been in all three events,’’ Craine said. “Competition is going to be tough. She’s got as good a chance to win the 3-meter and platform as anybody else in the conference.’’
With the SEC Championships her final home meet, her parents and brothers will be at the O’Connell Center the next three days. Dodson will take her normal place atop the tower, focus on those motivational words she takes with her, and jump into her comfort zone.
With the end of her career near, she can’t think of a better way to cap her UF career.
“In my head, I’ve kind of decided that if I do well at NCAAs, then I’ll be able to retire happy,’’ she said. “If not, I might go out [and compete] through the summer just so I can end on a good note.
“I want to end on a good note, and whenever that is, that’s when I’ll be done.’’