August 17, 2007

World University Games: Six divers compete in Friday's finals
 
BANGKOK – Six U.S. divers competed in four event finals at the World University Games on Friday.

The women’s 10-meter synchro team of Cassandra Cardinell (Londonville, N.Y./Indiana) and Heather Bounds (Round Rock, Texas/Miami) posted Team USA’s highest finish of the day, taking fourth with a score of 306.30. Bounds and Cardinell made a strong case for bronze, nailing their final dive, a back 2 ½ somersault, 1 ½ twists pike for 74.46 points, placing them in third. Leaders throughout the competition, Mexican duo Paola Espinosa and Tatiana Ortiz were last to dive, however, and earned the highest score of the afternoon, an 80.58, to finish atop the field (326.04). Silver went to Korea’s Kum Hui Choe and In Sun Hong (314.76), while Japanese duo Misako Yamashita and Mai Nakagawa took bronze (308.70).

The men’s 3-meter synchro team of Sean Moore (Englewood, Colo./Ohio State) and Drew Brown (Denver, Colo./Minnesota) finished sixth with a score of 342.87. The Chinese duo of Zhang Xinhua and Peng Bo took the gold medal, earning 431.10 points. Silver went to Russia’s Alexander Gorshkov and Artem Lvov (396.75), while Anton Zakharov and Dmytro Lysenko of the Ukraine took bronze with a score of 366.00.

In the women’s 10-meter final, Cardinell and Jessica Livingston (The Woodlands, Texas/Texas) finished ninth and 10th, respectively. Cardinell found herself in 10th position after four rounds, but executed a near-perfect back 2 ½ somersault, 1 ½ twists (5253B), scoring 73.10 points to move up a spot with 291.25 total points. Livingston was in 12th position entering her final dive, but also scored highly on a 5253B, adding 68.00 points to ascend to 10th place (271.90). The gold medal went to Chinese Olympian Lao Lishi (388.00) while silver was awarded to Mexico’s Espinosa (363.70). Japan’s Nakagawa took bronze with 329.40 points.

Zach Schultz (Chicago, Ill./Purdue) finished 12th in the men’s 3-meter springboard final. He scored 353.50 points in the championship session. The gold medal went to defending Olympic champion Peng of China (486.25). Fellow Chinese Olympian Luo Yutong won silver (474.10). Rommel Pacheco of Mexico won bronze (434.05).

The final day of competition Saturday features four more finals, with the women’s 3-meter kicking things off at 10 a.m. local time. Also contested will be men’s 10-meter, women’s 3-meter synchro and men’s 10-meter synchro.

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