March 27, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Purdue sophomore David Boudia won the 3-meter springboard diving event Saturday evening to complete day two of the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships inside Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
"Our goal coming into the meet was to have all six guys score," head coach Dan Ross said. "We have one more day, and everybody has their best event tomorrow. A team finish in the top 10 is not out of reach. It will take a special day, but that's why these guys train as hard as they have."
Boudia scored 494.90 points from the 3-meter to break the meet and facility records while defending his 2009 title. His score broke his meet record of 493.10 set at last season's NCAA Championships, and also took down his facility record of 485.35 set at last month's Big Ten Championships. The Noblesville, Ind., native won the fourth national crown of his career and second of these championships, following his 1-meter triumph Friday.
"I went into tonight with a different mindset," Boudia said. "I wasn't worried about winning, but about competing against myself. It paid off, and it feels great to defend my title. To break the record is an awesome achievement. Diving is all about consistency. Tonight, I stayed consistent. I'm getting better, definitely, but building on your consistent score is huge."
Boudia, who with Friday's win became the first diver in NCAA history to win at least one title from all three boards, is the first to sweep both springboard events at one championship since Georgia's Chris Colwill in 2006. Boudia's sweep marks the 35th time in NCAA history that one diver won both springboard events and makes him the 24th different individual to accomplish the feat. He also is the 18th diver and first since Joona Puhakka from Arizona State in 2005 to defend a 3-meter crown.
Junior David Colturi won his sixth career All-America citation and first on the 3-meter. The Sylvania, Ohio, native, who opened the meet with a sixth-place finish in the 1-meter Friday, scored a season-best total of 424.70 points in the consolation final to score in 12th place overall. Colturi, who also has earned All-America status in the platform at his first two NCAA meets, has scored in multiple events at all three national championships of his career.
"I dove really well today," Colturi said. "Obviously, I really wanted to make the 'A' final, but the qualifying list was a great contest. I was happy that I could represent Purdue and score some points for the team, and I was really happy to get something done on the 3-meter since I haven't done that in the past. It felt good to come in on 3-meter and actually compete like I know I can."
Purdue has 58 points and currently sits 13th in the team standings. California holds the lead with 348.5 points, and Texas is second with 330. Arizona's 269-point total is third, while Florida's total of 264 ranks fourth. Stanford rounds out the top five with 221 points.
The NCAA Championships wrap up with two sessions Sunday. The first begins at noon ET and features Sam Wilcher in the 200 butterfly and Boudia, Colturi, Danny Cox, Kyle Mitrione and J.P. Perez in the platform. Live results can be found at purduesports.com.