Mitchell earns bronze medal

For the second year in a row, Liv Mitchell has come home wearing bronze.

The Top of the World student competed in the age 10 bracket at the Junior Olympic Amateur Athletic Union Diving Nationals and earned a third-place finish in the three-meter event. The nationals, which had 397 divers in the nine-to-17 age range registered for the competition, were held Aug. 1-9 at Coral Springs, Fla.

She attended the national competition with her coach, Ila Wilson, and Rich Wilson of Crown Valley Divers.

Mitchell earned bronze during a diving season that saw the local youth break her arm and miss nine weeks of training. She finished third in the three-meter preliminary rounds to advance to a finals field that included 12 divers.

In a tough finals round, Mitchell needed scores of 6.0 or better to maintain her third-place standing. On her final dive of the event, an inward 11/2 somersault tuck, she earned scores in the 7.0-7.5 range from the judges to win the bronze. Her scores on her final dive were her highest for the entire competition.

Mitchell was less than a point away from winning the silver medal.

In addition to her third-place finish in the three-meter event, Mitchell placed fourth in the one-meter event and sixth in the five-meter tower event. By finishing in the top eight in all three events, she received an “All American Status” certificate of recognition from the AAU.

Mitchell, who won bronze at last year’s diving nationals at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., has a goal of qualifying next year for the USA Diving Nationals.