Michael Hixon Wins One-Meter, Thomas Finchum, Drew Livingston Capture 10-Meter Synchro at U.S. Diving Nationals

LOS ANGELES, California, August 13. MICHAEL Hixon (Amherst, Mass.) won his first senior national title with a win on 1-meter, and Drew Livingston (The Woodlands, Texas) and Thomas Finchum (Indianapolis, Ind.) paired for the gold medal in men's synchronized 10-meter for their first title together Friday at the AT&T National Diving Championships.

Hixon, an eight-time junior national champion, scored 392.20 points to win his first senior title a week after winning two junior titles. He led by five points heading into the final round and came through with a strong inward 2 ½ that earned 9s and 9.5s to give him a 16-point win over silver medalist Sam Dorman (Tempe, Ariz./Miami, Fla.). Greg Ferrucci (Huntersville, N.C./Lexington, Ky.) was third with 371.50 points.

"I knew the other divers were only five points behind me, so I knew I had to hit my last dive. It was a lot of fun, and I was really happy that I could come back after not doing so well (Thursday)," said Hixon, who missed out on advancing to the 3-meter finals after finishing 15th in the semifinals on Thursday.

Finchum and Livingston, competing together for the first time, scored 452.22 points, giving Finchum his 11th national title and Livingston his second.

"I didn't have a lot of expectations for this meet, but I knew we could do great things if we both hit our dives," Finchum said. "I'm really happy with how we did."

They scored more than 80 points on all four of their optional dives, highlighted by 92.07 points on their back 3 ½ tuck in round five, earning 9.5s and 10s from the judges.

"We got into a good rhythm and our synchro was good, so it was just about hitting our dives," Livingston said. "I haven't done synchro on 10-meter in a while, and I did what I was hoping to do."

Steele Johnson (Carmel, Ind.) and Toby Stanley (Conway, Ark./Indianapolis, Ind.) were second with 404.70, and Logan Shinholser (Burtonsville, Md.) and Ryan Hawkins (Charlotte, N.C.) won bronze at 367.20. David Boudia and Nick McCrory, the leaders in the preliminaries, withdrew, with Boudia saying he was physically fatigued after the recent World Championships and didn't want to risk injury with London as his goal.

In other action Friday, Cassidy Krug (Coraopolis, Pa./Stanford, Calif.) led the field of divers advancing to Sunday's women's 3-meter finals, finishing first with 336.75 points in the semifinals. Summer Allman (Lansing, Mich.) finished second at 316.85, and Olympian Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill.) earned qualified third with 315.55 points. Divers with local ties who advanced include Allison Brennan (Huntington Beach, Calif./Columbia, S.C.) and incoming UCLA freshman Emma Ivory-Ganja (The Woodlands, Texas), placing sixth and 10th respectively.

The AT&T National Diving Championships continue through August 14. Saturday's competition features finals in women's platform, men's 3-meter and women's synchronized 3-meter.

AT&T National Diving Championships
Results – August 12, 2011

Women's 3-meter semifinals (top 12 advance to finals)
1. Cassidy KRUG, Stanford Diving, 336.75;2. Summer ALLMAN, Legacy Diving, 316.85;3. Christina LOUKAS, Woodlands Diving Academy, 315.55;4. Amanda BURKE, Unattached, 314.10;5. Vennie DANTIN, Auburn Diving, 288.95;6. Allison BRENNAN, South Carolina Divers, 284.60;7. Cassie WEIL, Tualatin Hills Dive Club, 283.65;8. Courtney FORCUCCI, Unattached, 283.45;9. Erin MERTZ, Purdue University, 279.45;10. Emma IVORY-GANJA, Woodlands Diving Academy, 279.35;11. Kelly MARKLE, Woodlands Diving Academy, 274.65;12. Lindsay LESTER, Unattached, 273.20;13. Kristen MEIER, San Diego State Divers, 271.70;14. Kelsey GOODMAN, Unattached, 268.40;15. Meili CARPENTER, Wings Diving, 258.55;16. Samantha PICKENS, Tucson Diving Team, 254.40;17. Amanda LOHMAN, Unattached, 249.30;18. Thea VOCK, University of Miami, 246.45.

Cut after preliminaries
19. Gabriella AGOSTINO, Indiana Diving, 249.90;20. Rachel RUBADUE, Ohio State Diving Club, 248.55;21. Kassidy COOK, Woodlands Diving Academy, 238.95;22. Jennifer CHIANG, Pitt Aquatic Club, 238 .40;23. Victoria ISHIMATSU, Unattached, 238.20;24. Deidre FREEMAN, University of Iowa, 236.25;25. Lesley VIZURRAGA, Legacy Diving, 229.10;26. Katie CARTER, Unattached, 226.65;27. Laura RYAN, Indiana Diving, 218.75;28. Abby JOHNSTON, Duke Aquatics, 216.60;29. Logan KLINE, Indiana Diving, 213.30;30. Eszter PRYOR, Ohio State Diving Club, 212.40;31. Alexandra BETTRIDGE, Longhorn Aquatics, 209.85;32. Gracia LEYDON-MAHONEY, Unattached, 207.05;33. Kathryn CONNOLLY, Unattached, 203.70;34. Olivia BALL, Ohio State Diving Club, 186.75;

Men's 1-meter Final
1. Michael HIXON, Unattached, 392.20;2. Samuel DORMAN, Unattached, 376.20;3. Greg FERRUCCI, Kentucky Diving Club, 371.50;4. Benjamin GRADO, Tucson Diving Team, 370.80;5. Michael WRIGHT, Tennessee Diving, 367.40;6. Dwight DUMAIS, Longhorn Aquatics, 366.05;7. Zachary NEES, Indiana Diving, 349.70;8. Rylan RIDENOUR, South Carolina Divers, 333.00;

Cut after semifinals
9. Michael DELLORCO II, Indiana Diving, 311.50;10. Darian SCHMIDT, Indiana Diving, 308.85;11. Michael MOSCA, Unattached, 308.35;12. Bradley CHRISTENSEN, GC Diving, 303.20;13. John FOX, Kentucky Diving Club, 299.40;14. Cameron BRADSHAW, Sun Devil Divers, 292.45;15. Chris HEATON, Unattached, 291.05;16. Ryan HAWKINS, H2okie Aquatics, 287.75;17. Ford MCLINEY, Jayhawk Diving Club, 284.30;18. Mark ANDERSON, Mission Viejo, 283.30;19. Cole YOUNG, McCormick Divers, 279.95;20. Robert RALEY, Port City Diving, 273.00;21. Clark THOMAS, Jayhawk Diving Club, 270.30;22. Bryce KLEIN, GC Diving, 255.80;23. Colter YANCEY, Longhorn Aquatics, 246.65;24. Devin BURNETT, Mustangs in the Sun, Inc., 242.15;25. Cory BOWERSOX, Dominion Dive Club, 239.85;26. Brent STERLING, Tennessee Diving, 239.35;27. Jonathan ROBY, Glenbrook Aquatics Diving, 238.90;

Synchronized Men's Platform Final
1. Drew LIVINGSTON, Longhorn Aquatics, 452.22;1. Thomas FINCHUM, Unattached, 452.22;2. Steele JOHNSON, Unattached, 404.70;2. Toby STANLEY, Unattached, 404.70;3. Ryan HAWKINS, H2okie Aquatics, 367.20;3. Logan SHINHOLSER, H2okie Aquatics, 367.20;4. Zachary NEES, Indiana Diving, 352.32;4. Michael DELLORCO II, Indiana Diving, 352.32;5. Zachary COOPER, Unattached, 333.57;5. Jordan WINDLE, Unattached, 333.57;6. Andrew CRAMER, Starz Diving Club, 320.31;6. Nicholas KLEIN, Unattached, 320.31

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