GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Michael Hixon (Amherst, Mass.) and Annika Lenz (Altadena, Calif.) have earned the right to represent the United States at this summer’s inaugural Youth Olympic Games after winning bronze medals in the qualifying meet.

Hixon placed third in the boys 3-meter event, and Lenz picked up the bronze in the girls 10-meter contest.

Hixon stood in eighth place after the preliminaries but had a solid performance in the finals to jump to third place with 500.10 points. He scored more than 65 points on three of his five dives in the finals. China’s Bo Qiu led the field with 578.15 points, followed by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Bondar at 531.20.

Lenz scored 381.15 points to finish third in the finals after sitting in sixth after the preliminaries. She scored 65.60 points on her back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists, and she hit her front 3 ½ for 58.50 points in the finals after having trouble with the dive in the prelims. Olympian Pandelela Rinong of Malaysia placed first at 440.95, and Canada’s Pamela Ware took second with 401.60 points.

The top nine finishers qualify for the Games, which are set for August 14-26 in Singapore. Divers born in 1993 and 1994 are eligible.

USA’s Kaylea Arnett (Spring, Texas) was fourth in the girls 3-meter event, but because countries may send only one male and one female to the Games, the U.S. spot went to Lenz because of her higher finish. China’s Jiao Lu won the 3-meter with 487.10 points; Arnett totaled 415.90 points.

Andrew Cramer (Indianapolis, Ind.) scored 401.45 points for 11th in the boys 10-meter contest, with China’s Yanquan Zhang finishing first at 642.35.

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