Senior Marcus Dozier has had a very strong start to the track season. He’s already broken his own records “about 7 times this season,” he says, and he has been ranked No. 1 in shot put in the country for the past three weeks. As the years have passed, Dozier has been steadily improving. Now in his final season with DePauw, he looks to finish the goals that he started and bring his team another conference title.
The DePauw (TDP): You recently placed first in the DePauw Indoor Classic. It was your third win a row. It seems that all the pieces are coming together well this early in the season. How do you think your work put in the offseason has influenced your breakout start to the year?
Marcus Dozier (MD): I believed my off-season workout helped me in many ways. It gave me the time to practice and look for mistakes that I can fix. If the fix doesn't help, then I can revert back and try again. However, I would say the biggest help came from preseason because it allowed me to go into my season ready to go. I did not need to condition much at all. I felt as if I was already at peak performance even though I know I am not because I just keep improving every week. I've broken my own record about seven times this season in just four meets. That does not happen normally.
TDP: How does it feel to be ranked No. 1 in the nation for so many weeks in a row? Does it come with any pressure? How do you handle that pressure?
MD: It feels great to be able to say you are the best at what you do for your division and even some others. Being able to say it for three weeks is even better. But yes, it does come with some pressure. Everyone expects you to always be at your best, which honestly is just not possible. I feel I know this better than most based on my outdoor season last year. You go to the national meet ranked top five in two events and, having just won Athlete of the Year, everyone expects a lot from you, and then you go out there and blow it. But I feel I have learned from this and it just gives me a bigger incentive to win the whole thing this year. I feel I've always handled pressure pretty well, but something about this year just makes me feel a step above.
TDP: In an interview last year for TOTW, you said that you had four main goals before graduating. They were, “Win at least five NCAA trophies, hold every record in my events, become the national champion and get into the DePauw track and field hall of fame.” Where do you stand with those goals now and will aiming for these goals motivate you through your senior year?
MD: Well, after last year, five is no longer possible, but I can still walk away with four, and that would still make me feel accomplished. As far as records go, I have one more school record to go, and then I want to break all the conference records as well as more field records at other schools. Being national champion is by far the hardest, but with every week that passes, and the longer I stay No. 1, the more confidence I gain, and, trust me, going into a national meet happy and confident will show in your performance. As far as Hall of Fame, only time will tell.
TDP: Can you give us your insight on what the future holds for this Tigers team?
MD: I have the utmost confidence in my team that we will get over our sickness and injuries by next weekend, and compete at our very best at the conference meet at Kenyon. We have some amazing standout athletes and it will be up to them as well as myself to help motivate everyone to compete at their very best because DePauw track and field always shows up at conference.