KYIV, Ukraine – Max Weinrich (Brookeville, Md.) and Lyle Yost (Shaker Heights, Ohio) advanced to the finals to lead the U.S. on Thursday at the FINA World Junior Diving Championships. Weinrich placed sixth in the group B boys’ platform final, while Yost finished 12^th in the group A boys’ 1-meter contest.

Weinrich finished with 433.95 points and had a consistent performance in the platform competition, scoring 63 or higher on all four of his dives in the final. He received 8 1/2s from three judges and earned a total of 71.05 points on his back 2 ½ pike, and he closed out his list with a reverse 2 ½ tuck that scored 65.80 points. China’s Yao Zelin scored 481.85 points to edge his teammate Wang Zewei by .45 points for the gold. Russia’s Maksim Malofeev took the bronze with 467.85 points.

Yost scored 418.40 points in the 1-meter competition, highlighted by a front 2 ½ pike that earned 54.60 points and a front 1 ½ with two twists that received 48.10 points.  China took the top two spots, with Wang Zongyan scoring 557.65 for gold and Li Zheng taking silver at 526.85. Australia’s Matthew Carter scored 517.90 for bronze.

Johanna Holloway (Boynton Beach, Fla.) and Sophia McAfee (San Marino, Calif.) finished sixth in synchronized platform with 250.38 points, highlighted by an inward 3 ½ tuck that scored 57.60 points and a reverse 2 ½ tuck that earned 52.08 points. China’s Lai Shiyun and Liu Jialing topped the field with 314.88 points, followed by Great Britain’s Phoebe Banks and Emily Barnes at 278.79 and Romania’s Nicoleta-Angelica Muscalu and Antonia-Mihaela Pavel at 265.44.

Tyler Downs (Ballwin, Mo.) just missed a spot in the boys’ B platform final, finishing with 367.35 points for 13th place in the preliminaries – just .6 shy of 12^th place. He scored 60 points or higher on his first three optionals, including 67.20 on an inward 3 ½ tuck, but a miss on his back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists in the last round dropped him out of the top 12.

Jacob Fielding (Los Angeles) also competed in the boys’ group A 1-meter event and scored 418.80 to place 13^th in the preliminaries – 4.1 points shy of advancing to the finals. He scored 51 points or higher on three of his optionals – including 60.80 points on his final dive, a front 2 ½ with two twists – but missed a reverse 2 ½ tuck.

The FINA World Junior Diving Championships continue through July 29. Holloway and McAfee compete again Friday in the individual platform event. Friday’s schedule also includes Downs and Manuel Borowski (McLean, Va.) in the boys’ 3-meter event.