The Woodlands, Texas – Michelle Cabassol (Montgomery, Texas) captured her third gold medal on Sunday to complete a sweep of the junior national titles in the girls 14-15 age group at the Speedo Junior National Diving Championships.   In other action, Kristian Ipsen (Walnut Creek, Calif.) and Michael Hixon (Amherst, Mass.) picked up their second titles of the meet.           

 

Cabassol won the girls 14-15 3-meter event by 29 points over her Woodlands Diving Academy teammate Kaylea Arnett (Spring, Texas), who settled for her third silver medal of the championships. Cabassol finished with 394.80 points to Arnett’s 365.40 points.  Crown Valley Divers’ Kelly Markle (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) took the bronze with 358.55 points.           

 

In the boys 14-15 1-meter event, Hixon cruised to victory with 401.70 points to claim his second national title of the championships.  He won the 3-meter title on Friday. Jayhawk Diving Club’s Ford McLiney (Kansas City, Mo.) picked up the silver with 373.55 points and Cory Bowersox (Burke, Va.) of the Patriot Dive Club earned the bronze with 362.70 points.           

 

Diablo Divers’ Ipsen earned a perfect score of 10 from all seven judges on his final dive, a back 2 ½ somersaults with 1 ½ twists, to claim gold in the boys 16-18 platform event.  He won the 3-meter title on Thursday.  The Woodlands Diving Academy’s Drew Livingston (The Woodlands, Texas), who took the 1-meter title on Friday, finished second with 555.90 points.  David Bonuchi (Columbia, Mo.) of Missouri Diving Club picked up the bronze with 552.45 points.           

 

In the girls 16-18 platform event, Tennessee Diving’s Victoria Lamp (Knoxville, Tenn.) claimed her first junior national title with a 29 point victory over Shelby Cullinan (Paradise Valley, Ariz.) of Sun Devil Divers.  Lamp finished with 463.80 points to Cullinan’s 432.60 points.  Ann-Bryna Tsai (San Marino, Calif.) of Pacific Diving Academy took the bronze with 424.05 points. 

 

In all, 18 junior national titles were awarded throughout the week. The Woodlands Diving Academy was declared the overall team champion, with Woodlands divers winning six national titles.

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