Garcia Leads Platform in U.S. Trials

Caesar Garcia took the lead with his second dive from the 10-meter platform and held it after the semifinals of the U.S. Olympic diving trials in St. Peters, Mo.

Garcia, from Baton Rouge, La., finished with 647.25 points, well ahead of second-place finisher Thomas Finchum’s 620.13 points. Finchum, 14, is the youngest male competitor.

The field was cut from 19 to 12 for this weekend’s finals.

Mark Ruiz, a member of the 2000 Olympic team and the heavy favorite, is fourth with 408.21 points. Ruiz scored only 27.84 on his fifth dive, but responded with 78.66 points on his next.

In the women’s platform competition, Olympic gold medalist Laura Wilkinson dominated, finishing with 544.56 points after the semifinals.

From Associated Press