Courtesy: USA Diving
DALLAS – The USA Diving Senior National Championships concluded Sunday with David Dinsmore (New Albany, Ohio/Miami, Fla.) clinching the men’s platform national title and Hailey Hernandez (Southlake, Texas) securing the women’s 3-meter title at SMU’s Robson & Lindley Aquatics Center. Dinsmore and Hernandez also earned spots on Team USA for the upcoming FINA World Cup, with Brandon Loschiavo (Huntington Beach, Calif./West Lafayette, Ind.) and Krysta Palmer (Carson City, Nev./Reno, Nev.) also earning World Cup spots on those events. Team USA will be competing next month in Wuhan, China.
Dinsmore scored 423.40 points in the final to earn a spot on his third World Cup team. Dinsmore led his competition throughout the final and had his best dive in the third round, when his armstand double back somersaults and 2 1/2 twists scored 91.8 points.
“I just really wanted to have a good competition day. I wanted to land on my head six times, so I thought about being consistent. Armstands are one of those dives that can be really good for me. I just wanted to be confident when I went out and it worked out,” Dinsmore said.
Loschiavo, who will also compete in the men’s platform synchro with Olympic silver medalist Steele Johnson in next month’s World Cup, finished 8.15 points behind Dinsmore for second. Zach Cooper (Greenwood, Ind./Miami, Fla.) placed third with 387.20 points.
The women’s 3-meter was a tight race between Hernandez, Maria Coburn (Round Rock, Texas/Austin, Texas) and Alison Gibson (Austin, Texas). Hernandez, who was third following the first two rounds, secured the lead in the third round after a back 2 ½ tuck for 58.80 points. Hernandez capitalized on her lead with her final two dives, a reverse 2 ½ tuck and a front 2 ½ somersault with one twist,- that landed her 64.40 and 63.00 points. Coburn finished 6.05 points behind Hernandez for second, and Gibson placed third with 285.20 points.
“I just tried to stay focused and focus on me and do the dives that I can do,” Hernandez said. “I was really tuning out everything (on the reverse dive) and focusing on each component of the dive, including the entry.”
Palmer finished fourth with 277.35 points in the final but earned a spot on the World Cup team based on cumulative scoring on three lists of dives in the preliminaries, semifinals and finals.
Senior Men Platform (Final)
1. David Dinsmore (University of Miami), 423.40;2. Brandon Loschiavo (Purdue University), 415.25;3. Zach Cooper (University of Miami), 387.20;4. Jacob Cornish (The University of Texas), 342.25;5. Anton Hoherz (), 246.15;
Senior Women 3m Springboard (Final)
1. Hailey Hernandez (GC Diving), 300.30;2. Maria Coburn (Longhorn Aquatics), 294.25;3. Alison Gibson (The University of Texas), 285.20;4. Krysta Palmer (Nevada Diving Club), 277.35;5. Samantha Bromberg (The University of Texas), 268.50;6. Emily Grund (GC Diving), 250.20;7. Brooke Schultz (Unattached), 250.00;8. Kristen Hayden (Unattached), 247.65;9. Anne Fowler (Alexandria Dive Club), 245.55;10. Emma Ivory-Ganja (Unattached), 243.40;11. Sarah Bacon (Unattached), 238.40;12. Emily Bretscher (Purdue University), 222.15;