AT&T National Diving Championships: Steele Johnson, Gracia Ledyon-Mahoney Put on Show on Final Day

GREENSBORO, North Carolina, August 19. STEELE Johnson (Carmel, Ind.) earned 10s on two of his six dives to cruise to a victory in the men's 10-meter platform final Sunday at the AT&T National Diving Championships. Other winners were Gracia Leydon-Mahoney (Newton, Mass.) in women's 3-meter, Dwight Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) and Justin Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) in men's synchronized 3-meter, and Anna James (Midland, Texas) and Jessica Parratto (Dover, N.H.) in women's synchronized 10-meter.

Johnson, who a day earlier won a national title in 10-meter synchro, scored 497.80 points to secure his first individual senior national title, 71.15 points ahead of second-place finisher Zach Cooper (Franklin, Ind.). Toby Stanley (Conway, Ark.) took third at 404.45.

Johnson earned five 10s for 99 points on his second dive, a back 3 1.2 tuck, and received one 10 on his last dive, an inward 3 ? tuck that scored 89.60 points.

“This is such a big blessing to win the national title at age 16. I wasn't expecting this at all. I was hoping to finish in the top three,” Johnson said.

On Saturday, Johnson had a chance to chat with Olympic gold medalist David Boudia.

“I asked him if I could take a picture with him, and he let me wear his medal. This was after I won the synchro title, and he told me good luck and to keep killin' it,” Johnson said.

Leydon-Mahoney, also 16, grabbed her first senior national title with 346.95 points in the women's 3-meter final. Gabriella Agostino (South Bend, Ind.) scored 308.15 points for second, and Laura Ryan (Elk River, Minn.) was third at 296.95.Leydon-Mahoney, who was fourth on platform on Saturday and last week won a junior national title on 1-meter, earned a pair of 9.5s on her reverse 2 ? tuck for 75.60 points and received 9s on two other dives.

“I'm so happy I was able to put together that list of dives. It's been a long two weeks trying to get ready to compete every day, but it keeps me on my toes. I just love competing,” Leydon-Mahoney said.

In a close men's synchronized 3-meter contest that came down to the final round, the Dumais brothers scored 419.55 points for a 1.95-point win over runners-up Bryce Klein (Southlake, Texas) and Bradley Christensen (Southlake, Texas) to give Dwight his first national title. The Dumais duo scored 80.19 points on their last dive, a reverse 2 ? with 1 ? twists to secure the win.

“This was satisfying. One of the reasons Justin came back after the (Olympic) Trials was to help me win a national title. Knowing that we hit that last dive like we did to win was nice. This is a good step for me, and it's a great feeling,” Dwight Dumais said.

Parratto won her second title of the championships after having won the individual 10-meter title on Saturday. She and James scored 311.16 points to capture the women's 10-meter synchro title, with second-place going to Sydney Couch (Orlando, Fla.) and Lacey Houser (Danville, Ind.), who finished with 277.59 points.

“We've worked really hard, and it's paying off. We dove like we knew we could (Sunday),” James said.

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