Christina Loukas, Jonathan Wilcox Win One-Meter Titles at Speedo USA Diving Spring Nationals

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, April 23.BEIJING Olympian Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill./Bloomington, Ind.) won her third 1-meter national title and Jonathan Wilcox (Bellevue, Wash./Austin, Texas) picked up his first on that same event Wednesday at the Speedo USA Diving Spring National Championships at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. The national titles are the first of 10 to be awarded throughout the April 22-26 competition.

Loukas, who also won national titles on 1-meter at the 2007 and 2008 summer national championships, scored 303.30 points in her win on Wednesday, highlighted by a 70.20-point effort on her reverse 1 ½ with 1 ½ twists in the fifth round. In February, the Indiana University diver was selected to represent the U.S. on 1-meter at the FINA World Championships in Rome.

"I'm definitely happy. I hit all of my dives really well," Loukas said. "I'm really happy I was finally able to do everything right on (the reverse twister)."

Wilcox, of Longhorn Aquatics, won his first national title by more than 30 points, finishing with 411.60 points after barely making it out of the semifinals, where he was eighth with 299.05 points to earn the last spot in the finals. He rebounded in the finals, earning at least one mark of 8.0 or higher on five of his six dives, with his best overall score of 77.5 coming on his inward 2 ½ in round five.

"I'm stoked. This is definitely a personal best. I beat my prelim score by 112 points," said Wilcox, who recently completed his eligibility at the University of Texas. "This is a cool thing for me, an awesome thing."

Bianca Alvarez (Miami, Fla./Columbus, Ohio) made the most of her return to the pool and her hometown. Currently a sophomore at Ohio State, Alvarez returned home to south Florida for her first meet in more than a year due to a number of injuries and placed second with 294.40 points in the women's 1-meter contest. Kassidy Cook (The Woodlands, Texas) claimed the bronze with 285.10 points. The 13-year-old also won the 1-meter bronze at the 2008 summer nationals. Loukas' Indiana teammate Brittney Feldman (Indianapolis, Ind./Bloomington, Ind.) scored 278.90) for fourth, and Purdue's Ashley Karnes (Bloomington, Ind./West Lafayette, Ind.) took fifth at 266.90.

Stanford's Dwight Dumais (Ventura, Calif./Stanford, Calif.) placed second with 380.00 points, and Purdue's David Colturi (Sylvania, Ohio/West Lafayette, Ind.) finished third at 357.95. Ryan Jefferson (Madison, Wisc./Columbus, Ohio) was fourth at 333.80, and Colturi's Purdue teammate Kyle Mitrione (Haddenfield, N.J./West Lafayette, Ind.) scored 330.65 for fifth.

Competition continues Thursday at 10 a.m. with semifinals in men's 3-meter, women's 10-meter, men's synchronized 3-meter and women's synchronized 10-meter.

Special thanks to USA Diving for contributing this report.

Results
Men's 1-meter

1. Jonathan Wilcox, Longhorn Aquatics, 411.60;2. Dwight Dumais, Stanford Diving, 380.00;3. David Colturi, Purdue University, 357.95;4. Ryan Jefferson, Unattached, 333.80;5. Kyle Mitrione, Purdue University, 330.65;6. Terry Horner, Florida State University, 320.75;7. Ryan Hawkins, Carolina Diving Academy, 319.50;8. Hayden Jones, The Woodlands Diving Academy, 243.60;9. Matt Culbertson, Unattached, 293.05;10. Connor Kuremsky, Pitt Aquatic Club, 291.80;11. Ford McLiney, Jayhawk Diving Club, 281.15;12. Brent Eichenseer, Stanford Diving, 277.85;13. Taylor Sishc, Unattached, 276.60;14. Weston Wieser, Unattached, 270.25;14. Thad Ellis, Atlanta Diving Association, 270.25;16. Alan (A.J.) Dickey Jr., Southern Connecticut Diving, 266.40;17. Jake Kinzbach, The Woodlands Diving Academy, 257.15;18. R.scott Smith, Twin City Divers, 256.45;19. Ryland Jones, North Carolina Aquatic Club, 251.95;20. Jonathan Speed, 3 D Diving, 250.50;21. Hunter Torrence, Team Orlando Diving, 250.40;22. Michael Hixon, Unattached, 250.25;23. Noah Garcia, Ft Lauderdale Diving Team, 243.10;24. Nick Mcmahon, Unattached, 235.20;25. Rylan Ridenour, Unattached, 233.25.

Women's 1-meter

1. Christina Loukas, Indiana University, Bloomington, 303.30;2. Bianca Alvarez, Unattached, 294.40;3. Kassidy Cook, The Woodlands Diving Academy, 285.10;4. Brittney Feldman, Indiana University, Bloomington, 278.90;5. Ashley Karnes, Purdue University, 266.90;6. Abby Johnston, Duke Aquatics Diving, 265.65;7. Gabriella Agostino, Indiana University / Indiana Diving, 263.25;8. Summer Allman, Legacy Diving Assoc., 255.15;9. Thea Vock, Team Orlando Diving, 240.25;10. Amanda Burke, Rough Riders Aquatic Club, 237.95;11. Maren Taylor, Montgomery Dive Club, 236.80;12. Audra Egenolf, Unattached, 235.60;13. Laura Ryan, Twin City Divers, 234.05;14. Loren Figueroa, Conroe Diving Club, 233.00;15. Kristen Asman, Unattached, 232.40;16. Christina Kouklakis, Indiana University / Indiana Diving, 225.65;17. Courtney Forcucci, Cougar Diving Club, 221.65;18. Cheyenne Cousineau, Legacy Diving Assoc., 221.15;19. Jennifer Chiang, Upstate New York Diving, 219.35;20. Stephanie Ortiz, Unattached, 214.75;2 1. Kathryn Connolly, San Antonio Divers, 214.60;22. Amanda Miller, Boilermaker Diving Academy, 214.20;23. Hannah Krimm, Unattached, 211.35;24. Katherine Adham, Florida State University, 210.25;25. Samantha Lera, Cougar Diving Club, 206.95;26. Chelsea Davis, Unattached, 205.10;27. Aleia Monden, Florida State University, 203.50;28. Catherine Rose, P.A. Diving, 200.80;29. Julia Feist, Taylor Made Divers, 187.55;30. Rebecca St. Germain, San Antonio Divers, 180.80;31. Emily Huth, Unattached, 176.05.

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