2008 Olympian Ariel Rittenhouse (Santa Cruz, Calif.) earned the top qualifying spot into Sunday’s women’s 3-meter finals after finishing in first place following Thursday’s semifinals at the USA Diving Winter National Championships. Brandon Loschiavo (Huntington Beach, Calif.) is the top qualifier into the men’s 10-meter finals, also set for Sunday.
Rittenhouse was the only women’s 3-meter diver to score more than 300 points in both the preliminaries and semifinals and heads into the finals with 619.45 points. She scored 71.30 points on her front 3 ½ pike in the prelims and earned more than 60 points on six other dives throughout the day.
Laura Ryan (Elk River, Minn./Athens, Ga.) stands in second place at 600.90, and Samantha Pickens (Murrysville, Pa./Tucson, Ariz.) qualified third at 574.00. 2012 Olympic silver medalist Abby Johnston (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Durham, N.C.) returned to her hometown for nationals and also earned a spot into the finals after qualifying in fifth place.
Loschiavo qualified first into the men’s 10-meter finals after combining for 861.85 points over two lists in the preliminaries and semifinals. His back 3 ½ tuck in the preliminaries scored 92.40 points, good for the highest score from any diver throughout the day. In the semifinals, he picked up 86.40 points on his inward 3 ½ tuck and 88.80 points on his front 4 ½.
Defending winter national champion Steele Johnson (Carmel, Ind./West Lafayette, Ind.) qualified second with 844.35 points, while Rafael Quintero (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico/Tucson, Ariz.) is third at 836.50.
The USA Diving Winter National Championships continue through Sunday, December 21. Friday’s competition features men’s and women’s synchronized 3-meter preliminaries.
Results
Women’s 3-meter semifinals (finals on Sunday, December 21)
1. Ariel Rittenhouse, Stanford Diving, 619.45;2. Laura Ryan, Georgia Diving Club, 600.90;3. Samantha Pickens, Unattached, 574.00;4. Sarah Bacon, RipFest, 564.60;5. Abby Johnston, Unattached, 563.40;6. Maren Taylor, Longhorn Aquatics, 563.30;7. Deidre Freeman, Unattached, 559.70;8. Mary-Beth Dunnichay, Purdue University, 555.35;9. Michaela Butler, Unattached, 555.20;10. Mackenzie Willborn, GC Diving, 542.90;11. Emma Ivory-ganja, Longhorn Aquatics, 536.70;12. Olivia Ball, Unattached, 524.95;
Eliminated after semifinals
13. Lauren Reedy, Mizzou Diving, 520.15;14. Cassie Weil, Unattached, 518.90;15. Maria Lohman, Pitt Aquatic Club, 514.70;16. Haley Allen, City of Midland, 510.05;17. Alexandra Bettridge, Unattached, 506.60;18. Emily Grund, GC Diving, 488.50;
Eliminated after preliminaries
19. Gabby Erickson, West Michigan Diving Academy, 239.85;20. Meghan Houston, Longhorn Aquatics, 239.10;21. Kaylea Arnett, H2okie Aquatics, 235.85;22. Amanda Burke, Unattached, 235.80;23. Ashlynn Peters, Woodlands Diving Academy, 232.80;24. Shannon Lumbra, Unattached, 230.80;25. Cheyenne Cousineau, University of Miami, 230.00;26. Kara Mccormack, Unattached, 229.40;27. Elissa Dawson, North Carolina Diving, 227.60;28. Eszter Pryor, Ohio State Diving Club, 226.85;29. Thea Vock, University of Miami, 226.35;30. Alison Gibson, Team A and M Diving, 225.25;31. Kelli Stockton, H2okie Aquatics, 221.25;32. Katie Carter, Unattached, 221.00;33. Lauren Hall, Unattached, 211.15;34. Haley Ishimatsu, University of Southern California, 210.90;35. Christa Cabot, Kentucky Diving Club, 209.70;36. Annika Lenz, UCLA Diving, 207.20;37. Michole Timm, North Carolina Diving, 203.80;38. Lacey Houser, Unattached, 190.25;39. Olivia Rosendahl, Unattached, 176.50;40. Brooke Schultz, RipFest, 172.00;41. Anna Filipcic, Unattached, 155.30.
Men’s 10-meter semifinals (finals on Sunday, December 21)
1. Brandon Loschiavo, Mission Viejo, 861.85;2. Steele Johnson, Purdue University, 844.35;3. Rafael Quintero, Unattached, 836.50;4. Jordan Windle, Duke Diving, 785.00;5. Zachary Cooper, RipFest, 768.80;6. Ryan Hawkins, H2okie Aquatics, 764.20;7. Toby Stanley, RipFest, 755.90;8. Mark Anderson, Longhorn Aquatics, 749.05;9. Sean Mokhtari, Purdue University, 696.15;10. Collin Pollard, University of Southern California, 695.90;11. Dominic Ricotta, Unattached, 689.75;12. Addison Boschult, Unattached, 680.65;13. Nathan Cox, Purdue University, 649.85;
Eliminated after semifinal
14. Tarek Abdelghany, Stanford Diving, 649.50;15. Theodore Miclau, Stanford Diving, 599.70;16. Scott Lazeroff, Upstate NY Diving, 591.10;17. Logan Stevens, H2okie Aquatics, 557.05;18. Andrew Capobianco, Duke Diving, 507.65;19. Colten Young, Mission Viejo, 505.10;
Eliminated after preliminary
20. Dominic Giordano, Unattached, 346.35; 21. Tanner Wilfong, University of Miami, 272.75;22. Logan Stevens, H2okie Aquatics, 257.20; 23. Bradley Homza, Unattached, 237.95.
Diving News is courtesy of USA Diving.