Kristian Ipsen, Samantha Pickens Win Gold at USA Diving Nationals

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

COLUMBUS – The first two gold medals of the 2014 USA Diving Winter National Championships were awarded Tuesday as 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Kristian Ipsen (Clayton, Calif./Stanford, Calif.) won the men’s 1-meter gold and Samantha Pickens (Murrysville, Pa./Tucson, Ariz.) took the women’s 1-meter title.

With their victories, Ipsen and Pickens earned spots on the 2015 World Championships team. Also qualifying for the World Championships were Michael Hixon (Amherst, Mass./Bloomington, Ind.) and 2008 Olympian Ariel Rittenhouse (Santa Cruz, Calif.), who won the silver medals in the 1-meter events.

Ipsen finished with a score of 871.80 points over two lists of dives to win his 10th career national title and first on 1-meter. He was in second place, 6.25 points behind Hixon after the morning preliminaries. Hixon maintained the lead through four rounds of the finals before Ipsen scored 83.20 on his reverse 2 ½ pike in the fifth round to move into the top spot. Ipsen rounded out the night with 86.40 points on a reverse 1 ½ with 3 ½ twists, the most difficult dive performed in the finals.

“For prelims, it felt a little bit rocky. I hadn’t been in a long contest with that many divers since NCAAs and I hadn’t been to a nationals in a while, so I was a little bit nervous. In the final, it was fun. It felt more like something I was used to. With only eight people, it moved really fast and I feel most comfortable in a competition setting like that where you can stay loose and keep going,” Ipsen said. “I’m really excited about it, and I’m excited to back on the world team. I took a little break for awhile, so it’s fun to be back.”

Hixon finished second with 861.40 points, while Sam Dorman (Tempe, Ariz./Coral Gables, Fla.) placed third with 830.25 points.

Pickens won her first national title after finishing with 566.35 points on her two lists of dives to edge Rittenhouse, who scored 563.90 points for second. Lauren Reedy (Rochester Hills, Mich./Columbia, Mo.) was third at 544.15. Pickens was third after the preliminaries but just 3.6 points out of first heading into the finals. She moved into second place after the first round of the finals and held on to that second spot until the last round. Trailing Rittenhouse by 4.3 points with one round to go, Pickens closed out the night with 58.50 points on her reverse 1 ½ with 1 ½ twists to jump into first place.

“I’m really, really excited to win my first national title on 1-meter. It was so close between me and Ariel. Everyone just dove so well. It was really exciting going into the last dive. I didn’t know exactly what the points were, but when I saw my name was in first, it was a great moment,” Pickens said. “I’m really excited to be representing Team USA at World Championships.”

In preliminary action Tuesday, Toby Stanley (Pendleton, Ind.) and Jordan Windle (Morrisville, N.C.) scored 371.01 points to lead the men’s synchronized 10-meter field heading into Saturday’s finals. Amy Cozad (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Jessica Parratto (Dover, N.H./Bloomington, Ind.) finished first with 283.44 points in the women’s synchronized 10-meter prelims, with the final set for Sunday.

The USA Diving Winter National Championships continue through December 21. Wednesday’s events feature men’s 3-meter and women’s 10-meter preliminaries and semifinals.

Results

Men’s 1-meter final
1. Kristian Ipsen (Stanford Diving), 871.80;2. Michael Hixon (Unattached), 861.40;3. Samuel Dorman (University of Miami), 830.25;4. Zachary Nees (Unattached), 813.40;5. Aaron Fleshner (Unattached), 794.90;6. Mark Anderson (Longhorn Aquatics), 772.30;7. Darian Schmidt (Unattached), 742.40;8. Briadam Herrera (University of Miami), 729.35;

Eliminated after preliminaries
9. Will Chandler (Longhorn Aquatics), 366.70;10. Steele Johnson (Purdue University), 360.35;11. Collin Pollard (University of Southern California), 352.00;12. Grayson Campbell (Dominion Dive Club), 348.50;13. Cory Bowersox (Longhorn Aquatics), 346.75;14. Bradley Christensen (Stanford Diving), 344.90;15. Jack Nyquist (North Carolina Diving), 344.40;16. Clark Thomas (Mizzou Diving), 328.95;17. Ian Forlini (Unattached), 327.50;18. Connor Kuremsky (Unattached), 327.30;19. Jamie Bissett (Purdue University), 327.20;20. Jordan Windle (Duke Diving), 325.40;21. Bryce Klein (GC Diving), 323.50;22. Nathaniel Hernandez (GC Diving), 319.20;23. Jakob (jb) Kolod (Unattached), 312.35;24. Samuel Smith (Coral Springs Diving), 309.20;25. Jonathan Roby (Glenbrook Aquatics Diving), 306.60;26. Benjamin Schiesl (Unattached), 286.80;27. Devin Burnett (Unattached), 281.70;28. Michael Mosca (Harvard Diving), 281.25;29. Carl Buergler (Unattached), 271.60;30. Andrew Capobianco (Duke Diving), 269.20;31. Theodore Miclau (Stanford Diving), 238.90;

Women’s 1-meter final
1. Samantha Pickens (Unattached), 566.35;2. Ariel Rittenhouse (Stanford Diving), 563.90;3. Lauren Reedy (Mizzou Diving), 544.15;4. Rachel Mumma (Unattached), 529.55;5. Lauren Hall (Unattached), 527.50;6. Sarah Bacon (RipFest), 524.55;7. Amanda Burke (Unattached), 522.85;8. Haley Ishimatsu (University of Southern California), 515.20;

Eliminated after preliminaries
9. Deidre Freeman (Unattached), 252.85;10. Thea Vock (University of Miami), 248.95;11. Michole Timm (North Carolina Diving), 246.85;12. Lacey Houser (Unattached), 246.15;13. Michaela Butler (Unattached), 245.45;14. Laura Ryan (Georgia Diving Club), 245.20;15. Brooke Schultz (RipFest), 242.60;16. Phoebe Lamay (Cougar Diving Club), 241.25;17. Alexandra Bettridge (Unattached), 241.10;18. Olivia Ball (Unattached), 240.65;19. Maria Coburn (Longhorn Aquatics), 240.50;20. Meghan Houston (Longhorn Aquatics), 240.25;21. Kara Mccormack (Unattached), 238.50;22. Paige Hunt (Unattached), 229.90;23. Katie Carter (Unattached), 227.25;24. Ashlynn Peters (Woodlands Diving Academy), 227.10;25. Kelly Markle (Stanford Diving), 225.70;26. Kassidy Cook (Unattached), 223.40;27. Alexandra Clay (Stanford Diving), 221.75;28. Loren Figueroa (Unattached), 221.45;29. Meme Sharp (Unattached), 220.10;30. Gabby Erickson (West Michigan Diving Academy), 219.05;31. Elissa Dawson (North Carolina Diving), 215.40;32. Olivia Rosendahl (Unattached), 211.70;33. Annika Lenz (UCLA Diving), 211.45;34. Taylor Pamplin (Mission Viejo), 208.40;35. Christa Cabot (Kentucky Diving Club), 206.90;36. Mackenzie Willborn (GC Diving), 206.50;37. Michal Bower (Unattached), 203.80;38. Emily Grund (GC Diving), 201.50;39. Lillian Hinrichs (Nebraska Diving Club), 200.05;40. Kaylea Arnett (H2okie Aquatics), 196.35;41. Charlye Campbell (City of Midland), 195.70;42. Haley Allen (City of Midland), 195.40;

Synchronized women’s 10-meter preliminary
1. Jessica Parratto, Unattached / Amy Cozad, Indiana University Dive Club, 283.44;2. Emma Ivory-ganja, Longhorn Aquatics / Samantha Bromberg, Longhorn Aquatics, 273.54;3. Gracia Leydon-mahoney, Unattached / Katrina Young, Florida State University Diving Team, 271.62;4. Taylor Pamplin, Mission Viejo / Olivia Rosendahl, Trojan Dive Club, 224.25;5. Olivia Rosendahl, Trojan Dive Club / Christy Cutshaw, Unattached, 219.06;

Synchronized men’s 10-meter preliminary
1. Jordan Windle, Duke Diving / Toby Stanley, RipFest, 371.01;2. Mark Anderson, Longhorn Aquatics / Toby Stanley, RipFest, 341.94;3. Zachary Cooper, RipFest / Tanner Wilfong, University of Miami, 332.76;4. Brandon Loschiavo, Mission Viejo / Tarek Abdelghany, Stanford Diving, 329.94;

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com.

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