North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Culberson Chasing Her Diving, Vet-School Dreams
3/8/2006 12:00:00 AM | Swimming
March 8, 2006
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Molly Culberson is going to miss jumping off things terribly.
The NC State senior diver from Charlotte knows her competitive athletic career is nearing its end, perhaps as early as this weekend when she participates in the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships this weekend in Lexington, Ky.
But she's hoping for a return visit to the NCAA Championships, where she finished 31st last year on the 1-meter board and 28th on the 3-meter board. Those finishes were disappointing for Culberson, so she wants the opportunity to go back this year's championship in Seattle to improve.
"I really want to do well at Zones so I can go back to the NCAAs," Culberson said. "I have to have confidence in myself."
Coming out of the ACC Championships, Culberson should be flush with confidence. Culberson won an ACC title on the 3-meter board and took second in both the 1-meter and the platform.
The latter was a bit of a shock, since she only started diving of the 10-meter platform after last season, had to drive to Duke once a week have a place to practice (NC State does not have a platform at its natatorium) and had not competed in the event all year long.
"This year has been a real growing year for me, which is kind of bittersweet since it is my last year," Culberson said. "I feel like I can do so much more. It has been really good in terms of competition-wise. I have really hit being able to step it up and dive to my abilities.
"It's given me a lot of confidence."
Culberson has had an unusual athletics career, to say the least. She began her competitive career as a gymnast at the age of 2, and competed until she suffered a devastating back injury at the age of 13, when one of the disks in her back slipped completely out of place after she fell off the parallel bars and landed awkwardly on her stomach.
She had surgery in which bone from her hip was used to fuse the vertebrae together with six screws. After more than a year of rehabilitation, Culberson tried competing in several other sports, including track and cheerleading. But she missed the excitement of gymnastics.
Eventually, she turned to diving, which had primarily been a summer diversion, something she did at the neighborhood pool while her older brother Richard was a competitive swimmer.
"The reason I started diving competitively is because I missed gymnastics," Culberson said. "Diving is kind of an extension of gymnastics. That's what I started from.
"Now, I love the sport, of course, but my love of gymnastics is what initially made me want to jump off the three-meter board."
Even though she broke two of the screws in her back while diving, it didn't hamper her drive to succeed. She performed well enough at Myers Park High School, finishing second in the state diving meet as a senior, to catch the eye of NC State's coaches. And recruiting her was one of the easiest sells the program has ever had.
That's because Culberson knew long before Richard spent four years as a varsity swimmer with the Wolfpack that she was coming to NC State, to pursue her degree in Animal Science, the first step in fulfilling her life-long dream to become a veterinarian.
A long-time animal lover, Culberson spent time in high school working at a vet clinic with small animals. For the last couple of years, she has spent one day a week working at the Apex Equine Veterinary Hospital, pulling 12-hour shifts working with horses.
She has a dog, three rabbits and a fish living at her apartment, and always has her eye out for more.
"You do not want to go to an animal shelter with me," Culberson said. "You will come home with something."
That dream recently became closer to reality when Culberson was accepted into Mississippi State's vet school. She's still waiting to hear back from the other schools to which she applied, including NC State, Louisiana State and Tennessee.
"Now that I have gotten in to a vet school, a lot of my pressure is off," said Culberson, who wants to work with large and exotic animals. "I know I am going to go."
She'll also have a little help with tuition: Last week, Culberson was named as one of four NC State recipients of ACC post-graduate scholarships. Volleyball players Adeola Kosoko and Stefani Eddins also received $5,000 Weaver-James-Corrigan Post-Graduate Scholarships, while men's basketball player Ilian Evtimov received an honorary award.
"I was really honored to get it," said Culberson, who maintains a 3.3 grade point average at NC State. "I know a lot of people who applied for it and it was an honor to be selected.
"It will also help out a lot if I go to an out-of-state school."
She still has her sights set on staying at NC State, however, but isn't likely to find out if she has been accepted to the College of Veterinary Medicine until later this month, after this weekend's zone championships.
"After that, I can start checking my mailbox daily," Culberson said. "My mailman is going to hate me."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
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