GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Senior Monica Dodson (Franklin, Ind.) closed in on qualifying for the 2011 NCAA Championships Friday as the University of Florida men’s and women’s diving teams wrapped up day two of the 2011 NCAA Zone B Diving Championships at the Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga.
Dodson, a two-time SEC Champion and record holder, dove to another solid day in Athens, taking ninth on the one-meter boards with a combined prelim/final score of 552.05. The score was just 17.75 behind Tennessee’s Gabrielle Trudeau, who is slated as the last NCAA qualifier heading into the third and final day of competition. Dodson advanced to the finals with another ninth-place finish in the prelims, diving to a 275.65 mark. Also competing for the UF women were junior Kaylee Doback (Brandon, Fla.) and freshman Danielle Risley (Jacksonville, Fla.). Doback placed 31st in the prelims with a score of 224.40, while Risley finished four spots behind her in 35th with a score of 217.30.
On the men’s side, junior Anthony Lewark (Davie, Fla.) was the lone Gator to make the male finals for the second straight day. Lewark placed 17th on the three-meter boards with a prelim/final combined score of 651.60. For the second time in as many days, senior Jonathan Speed (Jupiter, Fla.) was the Gators’ second-leading scorer on the men’s side, just missing the final round of 18 divers with a 21st-place score of 317.30. Freshman Mike Lewark (Davie, Fla.) finished three spots behind Speed in 24th with a score of 306.50, while freshman Christopher Jones (Palm City, Fla.) dove to a 298.80 mark to place 27th. Junior David Springfels (Bradenton, Fla.) ended up 31st in the prelims with a 289.15 score, and senior Grayson Patten took 42nd with a score of 209.95.
