Kristian Ipsen, Brittany Viola, Cassidy Krug, Kassidy Cook Win Golds at U.S. Diving Nationals

LOS ANGELES, California, August 14. KRISTIAN Ipsen (Clayton, Calif.) used a high degree of difficulty to win the men's 3-meter national title Saturday at the AT&T National Diving Championships. Brittany Viola (Orlando, Fla./Miami, Fla.) won the women's platform title, and Cassidy Krug (Coraopolis, Pa./Stanford, Calif.) and Kassidy Cook (The Woodlands, Texas) picked up the women's 3-meter synchro gold.

Ipsen finished with 499.50 points, taking the lead on his final dive, a difficult front 2 ½ with 3 twists that carries a 3.9 degree of difficulty. Trailing by .25 points heading into the last round, he earned 8s and 9s for 93.60 points on the dive, moving him into first place. Drew Livington (The Woodlands, Texas/Austin, Texas), who won the silver medal with 495.30 points, also threw a dive with a high DD, scoring 96.80 points on a front 4 ½ tuck with a 3.8 DD in the last round. Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif./Austin, Texas), who led heading into the last round, finished third with 490.30 points.

Ipsen has been working on the triple out off and on for about a year and after watching his competitors at last month's World Championships, he knew he needed to try it in a meet.

"In Shanghai, I think eight or nine of the divers in the finals were doing dives with a 3.8 or 3.9 degree of difficulty, so I knew I had to test it out if I want to be competitive internationally," Ipsen said. "You have to be consistent, but even if you're consistent, if you don't have one of those big dives, I don't know if that'll get you on the medal stand."

Viola, who was 10th at the World Championships, won her second national title on 10-meter with 348.75 points. She scored 70-plus points on three of her five dives, including 76.80 on her back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists in the last round.

"I didn't know where I was in the standings because I usually just focus on what I can do, but I knew I'd been consistent, so I knew if I could hit my last dive, I'd be in it," Viola said.

Fifteen-year-old Gracia Leydon-Mahoney (Newton, Mass.) scored 306.05 points for silver, and Amy Cozad (Decatur, Ind.) was third with 302.50 points.

Cook and Krug scored 301.86 points to win their third 3-meter synchro national title together after finishing second in the preliminaries. Amanda Burke (Southampton, Pa./Indianapolis, Ind.), who won the 1-meter gold earlier in the week, paired with Summer Allman (Lansing, Mich.) for silver at 266.64 points. Gabriella Agostino (South Bend, Ind.) and Logan Kline (Mission Hills, Kan./Bloomington, Ind.) were third.

The AT&T National Diving Championships wrap up Sunday with finals in men's 10-meter, women's 3-meter, and men's synchronized 3-meter.

AT&T National Diving Championships
Results – August 13, 2011

Women's Platform Final
1. Brittany VIOLA, Miami Diving, 348.75;2. Gracia LEYDON-MAHONEY, Unattached, 306.05;3. Amy COZAD, Indiana Diving, 302.50;4. Amy KORTHAUER, Indiana Diving, 301.50;5. Jessica PARRATTO, Unattached, 298.40;6. Vennie DANTIN, Auburn Diving, 295.25;7. Anna JAMES, City of Midland, 293.95;8. Cosima LENZ, Unattached, 269.70;9. Laura RYAN, Indiana Diving, 268.10;10. Cassie WEIL, Tualatin Hills Dive Club, 267.30;11. Kelli STOCKTON, Dominion Dive Club, 256.65;12. Lisa FAULKNER, Unattached, 251.90

Men's 3-meter Final
1. Kristian IPSEN, Diablo Divers, 499.50;2. Drew LIVINGSTON, Longhorn Aquatics, 495.30;3. Troy DUMAIS, Longhorn Aquatics, 490.30;4. Christopher COLWILL, Georgia Diving Club, 464.20;5. Justin DUMAIS, YCF Diving Team, 434.35;6. Samuel DORMAN, Miami Diving, 419.65;7. Greg FERRUCCI, Kentucky Diving Club, 391.20;8. Benjamin GRADO, Tucson Diving Team, 381.60;9. Logan SHINHOLSER, H2okie Aquatics, 367.65;10. Dwight DUMAIS, Longhorn Aquatics, 365.70;11. David MACDONALD, Whirlwind Diving, 355.95;12. Chris HEATON, Unattached, 319.55

Synchronized Women's 3-meter Final
1. Kassidy COOK, Woodlands Diving Academy, 301.86;1. Cassidy KRUG, Stanford Diving, 301.86;2. Summer ALLMAN, Legacy Diving, 266.64;2. Amanda BURKE, Unattached, 266.64;3. Logan KLINE, Indiana Diving, 250.80;3. Gabriella AGOSTINO, Indiana Diving, 250.80;4. Laura RYAN, Indiana Diving, 244.80;4. Kathryn CONNOLLY, Unattached, 244.80;5. Emma IVORY-GANJA, Woodlands Diving Academy, 244.53;5. Kendall MCCLENNEY, Woodlands Diving Academy, 244.53;6. Olivia BALL, Ohio State Diving Club, 230.85;6. Rachel RUBADUE, Ohio State Diving Club, 230.85

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