Kristen Hayden, 13, of Hillsborough medaled twice at the 2011 USA Diving Junior National Championships in Knoxville, Tennessee, from Aug. 2-6.
Divers competed for 52 national titles and roster spots on the UANA Junior Pan Am Championship team that will compete in Medellin, Columbia, later this year. Divers at this competition range from those who have qualified for their first national championship to those who have their eyes set on the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Kristen competed in three events in the 12-13 year-old girls’ category: 3-meter springboard, 1-meter springboard and platform. Divers first compete in preliminaries to determine the top 12 in an event. The 12 later compete a portion of their dive list for their final places and rankings.
In the preliminaries on the 3-meter springboard, Kristen competed against the top 36 girls in the USA. She “nailed” her final dive to take 10th and assure her a place in the finals. After scoring 275.60 in the preliminaries, she improved to 287.40 in the finals to earn 9th place.
On the 1-meter springboard, 35 girls competed in the preliminaries. Kristen scored 237.80, which placed her 18th, missing a place in the finals by 6.3 points.
On the final day of competition, Kristen competed on the platform. Her most spectacular dive was her arm stand into a front somersault in pike position off the 7.5-meter platform. The execution of this dive brought cheers from the audience.
Kristen placed 11th of 29 divers in the preliminaries with a score of 264.60. In the finals, Kristen finished 12th with a score of 251.80.
