Definition of a model athlete
Track isn't the only thing Florida's Kayne Dakoski stars in: He's working on a lucrative career in advertising.
By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff Writer
Published May 25, 2006
[Times photo: Bob Croslin]
Once a department store ad model, Kayne Dakoski has graduated to music videos and television commercials for men's fragrances.
GAINESVILLE - Search for the name Kayne Dakoski on the Florida sports Web site and he'll be listed among the Gator track and field athletes, most recently having completed one of the best decathlons of his career.
Check Dakoski out on television or the World Wide Web and he'll be the ripped guy with his shirt off advertising the BOD man body spray fragrance.
Ask UF field events coach Dan Pfaff about Dakoski and he'll tell you all about his work ethic, his desire to be among the best and how he has improved over the past year as a decathlete. But to get comments on that other subject, you'll have to ask.
Ever had a male model on your team, coach?
"No, Kayne's the first," Pfaff said. "We've had to work some practice around his demands. He takes a lot of abuse from some of these commercials. The BOD commercials where he throws the hair back and all of that stuff, he still gets a lot of abuse for that."
Dakoski, 23, a senior from Palm Harbor who recently finished third in the SEC championships with a career best 7,303 points, began modeling during his junior year at Palm Harbor University High at the urging of a friend. At the time, he was working at the Innisbrook Golf Resort, and his first jobs were appearing in ads for Dillard's and Belk. It was during the summer after his high school graduation that Dakoski landed a role in the Aerosmith video Girls of Summer.
"I had to dance with my shirt off, in board shorts in front of eight people I didn't know," he said of the audition. "I did that and they called me back a couple of days later and they said I was going to be an extra. ... But one of the guys that was supposed to have a main part didn't show. I ended up getting the role of the guy who walks up to Jaime Pressly on the beach trying to talk to her like I'm all cool. She gets up from her towel and pulls my shorts down. And then I run away with my bare butt hanging out. ... It was cool."
Then last year, Dakoski gained more national exposure. While on break between spring and summer classes, he got a call about a commercial for BOD fragrance cologne shooting in Miami.
"They were looking for soccer/football players," Dakoski said. "I ran around, caught some passes with the football. ... As soon as I got back home to Clearwater they wanted me to come back."
Dakoski immediately returned to Miami for what turned out to be much more than he expected.
"I had to be there at 6 a.m. and we started filming. We were there until 8 at night," Dakoski said. "It was an all-day process in downtown Miami. The director and the owner of the company liked me and they said "we like your look and we want to use you for the football commercial.' I was only supposed to be there for the soccer one. I had gotten some good money compared to what I had gotten for print ads. I had to run up the stairs at Miami-Dade Community College about 30 times ... but it was easy compared to some of the stuff I was used to doing." The ads appeared nationally, including on ESPN, which tempered some of the teasing from his teammates. "When they see the paycheck they don't laugh," UF track coach Mike Holloway said, only half-jokingly. "I wouldn't give him a hard time either. The kid makes more money than I do. If I could get that kind of money going up there smiling and waving, I'd be right out there, too."
Dakoski doesn't get ribbed about his contribution to the ninth-ranked Gators track and field team. His SEC point total ranks 13th in the nation this season and is second best in UF history. He's expected to compete in the NCAA outdoor championships June 7-10 in Sacramento, Calif.
It has been a long journey that has included two universities, three coaches, moves totaling 970 miles from home and countless injuries and setbacks. And, oh yes, perseverance.
Not long after arriving at UF in 2002, Dakoski developed knee problems because of technical deficiencies in the high and long jump, which led to severe tendinitis, then ankle problems. In December of his freshman year doctors discovered a problem with his tibia, and he had surgery in January. Three months later, he suffered an ulnar ligament injury and had Tommy John surgery in April 2003.
He couldn't throw for three months and missed his entire sophomore year.
"At that point I was doubtful that I was going to be able to compete at this level," Dakoski said. Disappointed because he'd been in only one competition in two years, Dakoski decided he needed a change and transferred to Miami of Ohio. He was born in Cambridge, Ohio, lived there until he was 6 and still had family in the area. Miami didn't have an official indoor season, so Dakoski concentrated on hurdles and shot put. He was getting to compete and getting his confidence back, and that was the point.
"I started to remember why I did it and why I enjoyed it, and that was cool," he said.
But he missed having his parents around to see him, he missed the Florida sunshine and he wasn't progressing the way he had hoped.
Although fearful he might not be wanted, he called Holloway.
"He went up there, figured it wasn't for him and he wanted to come back," Holloway said. "He's a good person, good student, he could help the program. Why not?"
So Dakoski returned in 2005.
And now both his athletics and his modeling are going well. At the SEC meet, he set personal records in the discus, vault and javelin events.
Dakoski hopes he has more of a future in track. He may seek a sixth year of eligibility because he competed in only one meet his freshman year, but there's no guarantee. If he's not at Florida next year, he'll likely head to California, where he'll train and perhaps venture into television and more commercials. Whatever happens, Dakoski said he believes the past five years have all been worth it.
"I feel like I'm more of a well-rounded person," he said. "And I'm stronger, and not just physically. It would have been so easy just to stop, but I feel like I never really would have been testing myself and I never would have known what I was capable of. ... I'll consider this as an experience that I'll take with me and grow from. It's going to help me live the rest of my life with a very competitive spirit."
