Olympic Diving Trials: Woodinville’s Dragland among those advancing to women’s synchronized 3-meter finals

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Diving kicked off Sunday with preliminaries and semifinals in women’s synchronized 3-meter and men’s synchronized 10-meter. David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind.) and Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C.) dominated the men’s 10-meter competition and lead by more than 100 points heading into Thursday’s finals, while Kelci Bryant (Chatham, Ill.) and Abby Johnston (Upper Arlington, Ohio) hold a narrow lead in the women’s 3-meter synchro contest.

June 18, 2012 12:04 pm
The United States Olympic Trials — Diving continues at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center through June 24 with berths into August's 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London on the line.
The United States Olympic Trials — Diving continues at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center through June 24 with berths into August's 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London on the line.

Courtesy USA Diving

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Diving kicked off Sunday inside Federal Way’s Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center with preliminaries and semifinals in women’s synchronized 3-meter and men’s synchronized 10-meter. David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind.) and Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C.) dominated the men’s 10-meter competition and lead by more than 100 points heading into Thursday’s finals, while Kelci Bryant (Chatham, Ill.) and Abby Johnston (Upper Arlington, Ohio) hold a narrow lead in the women’s 3-meter synchro contest.

Bryant and Johnston finished with 637.80 points on two lists of dives to take a 6.51-point lead into the finals. Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill.) and Kassidy Cook (The Woodlands, Texas) stand a close second with 631.29 points.

“We had a solid performance and were in the right mental state. We have a few technical things to work on that our coaches told us to think about for Thursday, and I think we’re on a good path,” said Johnston, who is looking to make her first Olympic team, while Bryant is aiming for a second trip to the Games.

Cook and Loukas led through the first three dives in the preliminary round before Johnston and Bryant moved ahead in the standings with 72.90 points in their inward 2 ½ pike in round four. They finished the prelims with 314.10 points, narrowly edging Cook and Loukas by 0.27 points. In the semifinals, Bryant and Johnston scored more than 70 points on all three of their optional dives to maintain the top spot in the standings. Loukas and Cook had the highest single-dive score of the day, earning 76.26 points on their front 3 ½ pike in the semis.

The top eight teams advance to Thursday’s semifinals. Rounding out the top four teams are the Deidre Freeman (Grinell, Iowa) and Veronica Rydze (Iowa City, Iowa) with 531.90 points and Carrie Dragland (Woodinville, Wash.) and Bianca Alvarez (Miami, Fla.) with 524.40 points.

Boudia, a 2008 Olympian, and McCrory combined for 919.86 points on their two lists on Sunday, while Toby Stanley (Conway, Ark.) and Steele Johnson (Carmel, Ind.) finished second with 805.02 points, and Johnson and Dashiell Enos (Studio City, Calif.) were third with 782.16 points.

Boudia and McCrory earned more than 90 points on four optional dives, highlighted by 97.20 points on their back 2 1/2 with 2 ½ twists in the semifinals (they scored 90.72 points on that same dive in the prelims). They scored 94.35 points on their front 4 ½ tuck in the semis, and picked up 90.24 points on an inward 3 ½ tuck in the prelims.

“We were consistent, although there were some misses here and there. There are a few minor adjustments we want to make for finals, and we wanted to score higher on our voluntaries. We are using this as a stepping stone for London,” McCrory said.

Scores at the Trials are cumulative, with preliminaries, semifinals and finals all counting toward team selection. The U.S. will send one women’s 3-meter synchro team and one men’s 10-meter synchro team to London.

The Trials continue through June 24. Monday’s competition features preliminaries and semifinals in men’s synchronized 3-meter and the exhibition women’s synchronized 10-meter event.

Results – Day one

Synchronized Women 3m Springboard (Semifinal) (Top 8 advance to finals)

1.     Abby JOHNSTON, Duke Aquatics / Kelci BRYANT, Minnesota Diving Academy, 637.80;2. Kassidy COOK, Woodlands Diving Academy / Christina LOUKAS, Woodlands Diving Academy, 631.29;3. Deidre FREEMAN, University of Iowa / Veronica RYDZE, University of Iowa, 531.90;4. Carrie DRAGLAND, University of Miami / Bianca ALVAREZ, Ohio State University, 524.40;5. Amanda BURKE, Mason Dive Academy / Summer ALLMAN, Legacy Diving, 516.84;6. Gabriella AGOSTINO, Indiana University / Logan KLINE, H2okie Aquatics, 490.20;7. Eszter PRYOR, Ohio State Diving Club / Rachel RUBADUE2, Ohio State Diving Club, 488.64;8. Maren TAYLOR, The University of Texas / Meghan HOUSTON, Longhorn Aquatics, 488.46;9. Kelly MARKLE, Woodlands Diving Academy / Kara MCCORMACK, University of Miami, 483.42;10. Rachel RUBADUE, Ohio State Diving Club / Olivia BALL, Ohio State Diving Club, 475.68;11. Michelle CABASSOL, Purdue University / Kaylea ARNETT, H2okie Aquatics, 473.28;12. Emma IVORY-GANJA, UCLA Diving / Kendall MCCLENNEY, Woodlands Diving Academy, 472.23;13. Phoebe LAMAY, Cougar Diving Club / Chloe HELMINK, Woodlands Diving Academy, 463.44;

 

Synchronized Women 3m Springboard (Preliminary)

1. Abby JOHNSTON, Duke Aquatics / Kelci BRYANT, Minnesota Diving Academy, 314.10;2. Kassidy COOK, Woodlands Diving Academy / Christina LOUKAS, Woodlands Diving Academy, 313.83;3. Deidre FREEMAN, University of Iowa / Veronica RYDZE, University of Iowa, 258.24;4. Amanda BURKE, Mason Dive Academy / Summer ALLMAN, Legacy Diving, 250.95;5. Carrie DRAGLAND, University of Miami / Bianca ALVAREZ, Ohio State University, 250.80;6. Maren TAYLOR, The University of Texas / Meghan HOUSTON, Longhorn Aquatics, 246.54;7. Kelly MARKLE, Woodlands Diving Academy / Kara MCCORMACK, University of Miami, 244.32;8. Gabriella AGOSTINO, Indiana University / Logan KLINE, H2okie Aquatics, 243.60;9. Phoebe LAMAY, Cougar Diving Club / Chloe HELMINK, Woodlands Diving Academy, 237.96;10. Eszter PRYOR, Ohio State Diving Club / Rachel RUBADUE2, Ohio State Diving Club, 235.80;11. Emma IVORY-GANJA, UCLA Diving / Kendall MCCLENNEY, Woodlands Diving Academy, 234.81;12. Rachel RUBADUE, Ohio State Diving Club / Olivia BALL, Ohio State Diving Club, 234.36;13. Michelle CABASSOL, Purdue University / Kaylea ARNETT, H2okie Aquatics, 224.04;

 

Synchronized Men Platform (Semifinal) (Top 8 advance to finals)

1. Nick MCCRORY, Duke Aquatics / David BOUDIA, Boiler Diving Academy, 919.86;2. Toby STANLEY, Unattached / Steele JOHNSON2, Unattached, 805.02;3. Steele JOHNSON, Unattached / Dashiell ENOS, Unattached, 782.16;4. Mark MURDOCK, Unattached / Dashiell ENOS2, Unattached, 711.72;5. Logan SHINHOLSER, H2okie Aquatics / Ryan HAWKINS, H2okie Aquatics, 702.96;6. Zachary COOPER, Unattached / Jordan WINDLE2, Unattached, 686.16;7. Nicholas KLEIN, Tomahawk Diving Club / Andrew CRAMER, Starz Diving Club, 634.47;8. Christopher LAW, Alamo Area Aquatics Diving / Samuel SMITH, Tennessee Diving, 622.29;

 

Synchronized Men Platform (Preliminary)

1. Nick MCCRORY, Duke Aquatics / David BOUDIA, Boiler Diving Academy, 463.83;2. Toby STANLEY, Unattached / Steele JOHNSON2, Unattached, 415.80;3. Steele JOHNSON, Unattached / Dashiell ENOS, Unattached, 387.18;4. Logan SHINHOLSER, H2okie Aquatics / Ryan HAWKINS, H2okie Aquatics, 342.12;5. Mark MURDOCK, Unattached / Dashiell ENOS2, Unattached, 340.56;6. Zachary COOPER, Unattached / Jordan WINDLE2, Unattached, 333.75;7. Nicholas KLEIN, Tomahawk Diving Club / Andrew CRAMER, Starz Diving Club, 314.55;8. Christopher LAW, Alamo Area Aquatics Diving / Samuel SMITH, Tennessee Diving, 310.11;