USA Diving Nationals: Kassidy Cook Wins 3-Meter Title; Dinsmore, Hernandez Also Win
Olympian Kassidy Cook (The Woodlands, Texas) won the women’s 3-meter national title, while David Dinsmore (New Albany, Ohio/Miami, Fla.) claimed gold in men’s 10-meter and Hailey Hernandez (Southlake, Texas) won women’s 1-meter as the USA Diving Winter National Championships wrapped up Sunday.
Cook and Dinsmore also earned the opportunity to represent the United States at the FINA Diving World Cup in Tokyo in April, as did 3-meter and 10-meter silver medalists Alison Gibson (Austin, Texas) and Jordan Windle (Morrisville, N.C./Austin, Texas).
Cook, who earlier in the week won synchronized 3-meter at USA Diving Nationals, scored 976.10 points to secure the individual women’s 3-meter title. Gibson finished second with 954.90 points, and Brooke Schultz (Fayetteville, Ark.) scored 937.30 points for bronze.
Cook scored 63 points or higher on four of her five dives, including 72 points on a reverse 2 ½ pike in round four. She closed out her list with 67.50 points on a front 2 ½ with one twist to win her second national title this week. Cook had been away from competition for more than two years and just returned to training in September.
“I was hoping to (win), but I don’t know if I was expecting it just because I haven’t been in the competition scene in a long time. Once I got here and started practicing, I started to feel like my old self,” Cook said. “It was more about consistency today. I didn’t need to nail anything, but I also knew I couldn’t really miss anything. I wanted to come in and be consistent and do what I do in practice and get 7s and 7.5s.”
Gibson entered the finals in third place and jumped into second to earn a World Cup berth after a consistent effort in the finals. She was the only diver to score more than 60 points on all five dives in the finals, highlighted by a front 2 ½ with one twist that earned 66 points and a back 2 ½ pike that scored 63 points.
Dinsmore scored 1522.90 points on his three lists of men’s 10-meter dives, including a pool record 547.15 in the semifinals on Friday. Windle scored 1434.05 points for silver after putting down a list of 536.40 in the finals. Rafael Quintero (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico/Tucson, Ariz.) picked up his second bronze of the week with 1341.65 points on a 10-meter a day after finishing third on 3-meter.
“I did three of the most consistent lists that I’ve done in a long time together this week. Coming off synchro, I was very confident and feeling good,” said Dinsmore, who won a synchro 10-meter title on Wednesday at USA Diving Nationals. “I just want to make sure I keep going and stay consistent and stay positive. I want to make sure I can do what I did in that semifinal on all three lists.”
Both Dinsmore and Windle earned a 10 from at least one judge in Sunday’s final. Dinsmore scored 90 points or higher on three of his six dives, including 99 points on his last dive – a back 2 ½ with 2 ½ twists – that scored a 10 from one judge. Windle scored more than 90 points on four of his six dives, led by a front 4 ½ tuck that received five 10s and a total of 111 points. He also earned a 10 on his inward 3 ½ tuck that scored 91.20 points.
Hernandez scored 513.15 points on two lists to come away with the women’s 1-meter national title. Kyndal Knight (Stanley, N.C./Lexington, Ky.) scored 501.75 points for silver, with Samantha Pickens (Murrysville, Pa./Midland, Texas) claiming bronze at 500.95.
In second place after the preliminaries, Hernandez took the lead in round four of the finals when her reverse 1 ½ pike scored 54 points. She scored 50 points or higher on four of her five dives in the final at the USA Diving Nationals.
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