March 2, 2008

Livingston siblings have a hand in three fourth-place finishes; Jones makes history at China Open

SHENZHEN, China – The Livingston siblings had a hand in three fourth-place finishes for the United States, and Harrison Jones (Spring, Texas) made history at the FINA Diving Grand Prix China Open.

Drew Livingston (The Woodlands, Texas) scored 457.35 points on men’s 10-meter for a fourth-place finish, the best U.S. showing on an individual event at the China Open. He received four 9.0 marks on his opening dive, a front 3 ½.

Livingston also paired with Kristian Ipsen (Clayton, Calif.) in men’s synchronized 3-meter. They scored 372.96 points for fourth place in their first senior international competition together; the two teens won the gold medal on the event at the 2007 Junior Pan American Championships in November.

Livingston’s older sister, Jessica Livingston (The Woodlands, Texas), teamed with Laura Wilkinson (Spring, Texas) for 316.14 points in the women’s synchronized 10-meter contest. The duo placed fourth, just .42 points behind bronze medalists In Sun Hong and Choe Kum Huo of North Korea.

Jones placed 10th with 434.85 points on men’s 10-meter and made history when he performed an inward 4 ½. He became the first diver to compete a dive with a degree of difficulty above 4.0 in an international competition. He scored 69.70 points on the dive, which has a degree of difficulty of 4.1.

Nancilea Foster (Conroe, Texas) scored 347.60 for a fifth-place finish on 3-meter, with teammate Allison Brennan (Huntington Beach, Calif.) placing seventh at 332.00.

Justin Wilcock (Smithfield, Utah) finished sixth with 392.25 points in the men’s 3-meter finals. He advanced to the finals after scoring 459.35 points in the semifinals. Ipsen also advanced to the semis, where he scored 422.60 points to finish eighth overall.

Cassandra Cardinell (Loudonville, N.Y.) finished seventh on women’s 10-meter 343.05, with Jessica Livingston placing 13th at 276.30.

Chinese divers won all eight gold medals.

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