Kelci Bryant, Brandon Watson Win One-Meter Titles at USA Diving Winter National Championships

IOWA CITY, Iowa, February 3. KELCI Bryant (Chatham, Ill./Minneapolis, Minn.) and Brandon Watson (Riverton, Utah/Provo, Utah) won 1-meter titles Wednesday at the USA Diving Winter National Championships.

Bryant, a 2008 Olympian who also won the 1-meter at the 2010 winter nationals, scored 283.90 points to win her eighth career national title. She was in fourth place after three rounds but jumped to third with one round to go. Less than four points separated third from first heading into the fifth round, and she secured her win with 62.40 points on her last dive, a reverse 1 ½ with 1 ½ twists, for her highest-scoring dive in the finals.

"My first dive went pretty well but then I missed two in a row, so I knew the pressure was on," Bryant said. "I could hear in the background that all the girls going before me were doing great dives in the last round, so I knew I had to go for it and do a great last dive myself and it worked."

Loren Figueroa (Kingwood, Texas/Columbia, Mo.) picked up the silver medal with 281.40 points, edging bronze medalist Meili Carpenter (Lafayette, Colo./Buffalo, N.Y.) by just .35 points.

Watson won his second career 1-meter national title with 443.20 points in a come-from-behind win, narrowing edging Aaron Fleshner (Spring, Texas/Tuscaloosa, Ala.), who picked up the silver with 442.95 points.

Fleshner led by more than 40 points with two rounds to go, but Watson rallied with 91.20 points – including 10s from two judges – on his front 2 ½ with a twist in the fifth round to close within 10 points with one dive to go. Fleshner scored 73.60 points on his last dive, while Watson earned three 9.5s and 82.50 points on his reverse 1 ½ with 2 ½ twists to move into the gold medal position.

"I can't be happier. It was an intense competition, and God really blessed me to do well today," said Watson, who also won the 1-meter title at the 2010 AT&T National Championships. "My diving's been a lot stronger, but my competition is getting a lot stronger and I feel like there was a little pressure on me having won a title before."
Harrison Jones (Spring, Texas/Los Angeles, Calif.) won the bronze medal with 407.25 points.

The USA Diving Winter National Championships continue through Sunday, February 6. Thursday's competition starts at 10 a.m. and features women's 10-meter and men's 3-meter quarterfinals and semifinals.

USA Diving Winter National Championships
Results – February 2, 2011

Women's 1-meter Final
1. Kelci Bryant, Unattached, 283.90;2. Loren Figueroa, Unattached, 281.40;3. Meili Carpenter, Wings Diving, 281.05;4. Maren Taylor, Unattached, 274.35;5. Victoria Ishimatsu, University of Southern California, 273.90;6. Erin Mertz, Purdue University, 268.70;7. Deidre Freeman, University of Iowa, 258.15;8. Veronica Rydze, University of Iowa, 240.60;

Cut after semifinals
9. Gracia Leydon-Mahoney, Unattached, 253.70;10. Summer Allman, Legacy Diving, 245.15;11. Amanda Burke, Unattached, 245.10;12. Kaylea Arnett, Woodlands Diving Academy, 241.70;13. Courtney Forcucci, Univ South Carolina, 240.60;14. Brittany Viola, University of Miami, 235.20;15. Sarah Bacon, Unattached, 227.80;16. Christina Kouklakis, Unattached, 226.80;17. Lisi Rowland, Florida State University Diving Team, 225.60;18. Kelly Markle, Woodlands Diving Academy, 221.85;19. Kathryn Connolly, San Antonio Divers, 220.90;20. Kelsey Goodman, Florida State University Diving Team, 219.85;21. Katie Carter, Unattached, 219.70;22. Paulina Guzman, UCLA Diving, 218.95;23. Meghan Houston, Longhorn Aquatics, 215.15;24. Taylor Ford, Legacy Diving, 212.80;25. Alexandra Bettridge, Longhorn Aquatics, 210.65;26. Sydney Czaus, Mission Viejo, 209.10;27. Sydney Couch, Unattached, 204.60;28. Samantha Bromberg, Ohio State Diving Club, 198.45;29. Cassie Weil, Tualatin Hills Dive Club, 197.80;30. Brooke Pospichal, Mustangs in the Sun, Inc., 194.65;31. Katrina Young, Florida State University Diving Team, 194.35;32. Jacqueline Horner, Florida State University Diving Team, 193.30;33. Rachel Rubadue, Ohio State Diving Club, 178.30;34. Brooke Schultz, Unattached, 176.55

Men's 1-meter Final
1. Brandon Watson, Unattached, 443.20;2. Aaron Fleshner, Unattached, 442.95;3. Harrison Jones, University of Southern California, 407.25;4. Dwight Dumais, Longhorn Aquatics, 396.25;5. Jonathan Wilcox, Unattached, 395.15;6. Bradley Christensen, GC Diving, 386.20;7. Landon Marzullo, Florida State University Diving Team, 369.75;8. Cory Bowersox, Dominion Dive Club, 350.60

Cut after semifinals
9. Dante Jones, Unattached, 330.50;10. Hayden Jones, Unattached, 326.85;11. Zachary Nees, Indiana University, 324.65;12. Bryan Bahr, Unattached, 324.10;13. Michael Neubacher, Florida State University Diving Team, 322.35;14. Darian Schmidt, Indiana University, 321.60;15. Michael Mosca, Montgomery Dive Club, 310..65;16. Rylan Ridenour, Univ South Carolina, 308.95;17. Bryce Klein, GC Diving, 304.85;18. Thomas Neubacher, Florida State University Diving Team, 299.60;19. Michael DellOrco II, Indiana University, 299.55;20. Sean Obrien, Unattached, 297.80;21. Michael Hixon, Unattached, 297.50;22. Benjamin Grado, Tucson Diving Team, 294.55;23. Chris Heaton, Unattached, 293.55;24. Cole Young, McCormick Divers, 291.05;25. Jordan Horsley, Florida State University Diving Team, 285.75;26. Derrick Butts, Unattached, 280.75;27. Timothy Faerber, Dominion Dive Club, 278.95;28. Jordan Lesser, Montgomery Dive Club, 273.80;29. Nicholas Klein, Florida State University Diving Team, 265.30;30. Kyle Butts, Montgomery Dive Club, 254.90;31. Colby Shinholser, Montgomery Dive Club, 252.85;32. Jakob (jb) Kolod, Pitt Aquatic Club, 250.65;33. Tanner Wilfong, Montgomery Dive Club, 229.25

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