April 18, 2008

Johnston/Yarrison, Boudia/Finchum take synchro titles at Speedo USA Diving Spring National Championships

MINNEAPOLIS – David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind.) and Thomas Finchum (Indianapolis, Ind.) claimed their fifth national title together in synchronized 10-meter, and Abby Johnston (Columbus, Ohio) and Mary Yarrison (Springfield, Va.) won their second title in women’s 3-meter synchro Friday at the Speedo USA Diving Spring National Championships.

Yarrison and Johnston, who came straight to Minneapolis from Moscow, where they won a bronze medal together at a FINA Grand Prix meet last week, scored 302.10 points for the national title. Amanda Miller (Centreville, Va.) and Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill.) were second with 299.10 points, and Kelci Bryant (Chatham, Ill.) and Ariel Rittenhouse (Santa Cruz, Calif.) scored 288.30 points for third.

“We actually didn’t know where we were in the standings because we don’t watch the competition,” Johnston said. “We could have been first or we could have been last; we really didn’t know.”

Boudia and Finchum scored 423.60 points for their latest national title, while Sean Moore (Englewood, Colo.) and Wes Wieser (Chesterfield, Mo.) took second at 404.85 points.

In individual action, Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C.) topped the men’s 10-meter semifinals with 458.00 points, highlighted by a back three and a half tuck that earned two 10s and two 9.5s from the judges. Boudia was second at 429.20, with Drew Livingston (The Woodlands, Texas) scoring 411.55 points for third. Wieser finished fourth with 400.45 points.

Defending champion Nancilea Foster (Conroe, Texas) scored 321.60 points to lead the women’s 3-meter semifinals. Victoria Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.), who won the 1-meter title on Wednesday, finished second with 302.40 points, and Allison Brennan (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was third at 300.75. Loukas scored 298.55 points for fourth.

The top 12 divers in the individual semifinals advance to Sunday’s finals, and the top eight in the finals will qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Diving.

The Speedo USA Diving Spring National Championships run through Sunday, April 20. Saturday’s competition features men’s 3-meter finals at 1 p.m., followed by the women’s 10-meter finals.

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