March 28, 2009
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Purdue freshman David Boudia won his second national title in as many days Saturday inside Texas A&M's Student Recreation Center Natatorium in College Station, Texas, to help Purdue finish 13th at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships.
"What's really cool about David is he says, 'That's for Purdue'," head coach Dan Ross said. "Tonight when we were congratulating him he said, 'I'm at the right place.' He's here with the best diving coach in the nation. I've been saying that for a long time, and tonight that fact was publically acknowledged. We have won a lot of awards this year, both from the Big Ten and the NCAA, to validate all of our hard work this season."
Boudia won his second national championship in as many days by scoring a meet- and facility-record 530.45 points. Boudia took down the meet record of 478.20 set by Ohio State's Sean Moore in 2008. Boudia broke his third facility record in as many days during the preliminaries of the platform. The Noblesville, Ind., native scored 471.40 points to break the previous record of 450.65 that was recorded by Texas A&M's Eric Sehn in 2007. Boudia, Purdue's school-record holder on all three boards, leaves College Station having broken five facility records and two NCAA meet records during the three days of competition.
"It definitely was an exciting night again," Boudia said. "I went in and did the exact same thing as yesterday. I was confident going in it, and it's an exciting day for Purdue."
In the previous 89 seasons of Purdue swimming and diving, the Boilermakers earned one NCAA individual title. Boudia is returning to West Lafayette with two titles from this year's meet after claiming the 3-meter title with a meet- and facility-record score of 493.10 Friday. Boudia was named NCAA Diver of the Year, and head diving coach Adam Soldati took home NCAA Diving Coach of the Year honors. They also were awarded Diver of the Year and Coach of the Year at the Big Ten Championships last month, and Ross was named the conference's Swimming Coach of the Year.
"I'm very proud of the way the boys represented Purdue this week," Soldati said. "It was a great week, but I believe our best diving is ahead of us."
Sophomore David Colturi earned All-America honors from the platform for the second consecutive year. The Sylvania, Ohio, native finished eighth after scoring 390.75 points during the final round. Colturi, who earned the third qualifying spot in the final with a score of 440.90 in the preliminary round, returns with the fourth All-America certificate of his young career and second of these championships. Colturi has won honorable mention All-America honors from the 1-meter and been an All-American from the platform in both of his seasons at Purdue.
"The NCAA meet is such a great experience," Colturi said. "It was awesome to be here. The final was amazing. It wasn't my best performance, but it was a fun time."
Junior Kyle Mitrione became an All-American by finishing 15th off the platform for honorable mention All-America honors. The Haddonfield, N.J., native placed seventh in the consolation final with his score of 351.40. Mitrione, who ranks sixth on Purdue's all-time performance list, advanced to the consolation final by scoring 348.25 points and placing 15th in the preliminaries.
"I feel incredibly proud to be an All-American," Mitrione said. "I have worked really hard for this all year, and it feels great to contribute any points I can to the team."
Purdue scored 77 points during the three days of competition. The Boilermakers eclipsed the highest point total in the program's 90-year history while recording the highest finish of Ross's career and highest since the 1962 team finished 12th.
Senior Andrew Langenfeld finished 43rd in the 100-yard freestyle in his final race as a Boilermaker after touching the wall in 44.47 seconds. Langenfeld, this year's Big Ten champion in the 50 freestyle, ends his career with his name on six school records. The Centralia, Ill., native recorded the fastest 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly times in school history and also swam the leadoff leg on Purdue's school-record 200 and 400 freestyle relays and the third leg on the 200 and 400 medley relays that broke the school record.
ESPN2 is scheduled to air a 90-minute, tape-delayed broadcast of the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships on Wednesday beginning at 3 p.m. ET.