Ogden committed to BSU

Twenty-five years ago this week, a local diver was focusing on her future.

The Nov. 1, 2000, edition of The Commercial Review featured a story about Jay County High School senior Dawn Ogden committing to extend her athletic career as a diver at Ball State University.

Ogden, who transferred to JCHS during the summer before her junior season, had wanted to be a Cardinal athlete since she was 10 or 11 years old. She was also looking toward loftier goals.

“If I do (diving) exclusively, hopefully more will come out of it than just college,” said Ogden, who was a three-sport state qualifier in diving, gymnastics and track the previous year. “That’s my goal, maybe the 2004 or 2008 Olympics. I kind of feel dumb saying that, but … it’s always been my goal to be in the Olympics. I haven’t hit my peak yet, so I can get a lot better. I’ve got a mission just to go out and work as hard as I can to get better.”

Ogden was considering running track in addition to diving at Ball State, where she planned to study exercise science.

She had plans to continue competing in both gymnastics and diving during her senior season with the Patriots, as well as track in the spring. She was a three-time state qualifier in diving, finishing 28th in 1998, 20th in 1999 and 11th in 2000. In gymnastics, she was 10th in the state all-around competition as a junior, including a seventh-place finish on the uneven parallel bars.

“I’m really excited about (the scholarship), and it does make my hard work worth a lot more than what I thought it was,” said Ogden. “All these practices … I’ve been really tired at times. It just seems like it’s all paying off.”