Feb. 1, 2011
Dive-by-Dive Scoring | USA Diving Winter Nationals
Feature on the Rise of Purdue Diving at TeamUSA.org
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Purdue's David Boudia teamed up with Nick McCrory of Duke to win the synchronized platform competition Tuesday at the USA Diving Winter National Championships, defending his title from the 2010 meet and winning his 13th career national title.
Boudia and McCrory won the competition, which featured five tandems, with a score of 449.13 points. They won the event by 95 points and essentially matched their preliminary round score of 449.52 points from Sunday. They averaged 74.86 points per dive, highlighted by a score of 88.56 on their third combo dive - a back 2 ½ somersault, 2 ½ twist pike.
"Today was very encouraging. We didn't dive as well as we wanted to, but we still scored 450, so this sets us up well for the summer," Boudia said. "We're excited to represent the United States."
In addition to declaring 10 national titles, the Winter Nationals are being used to select divers for upcoming international meets. The top two synchronized diving teams based on cumulative scores from the prelims and finals are selected to the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix, and the third team earns the right to compete at the Canada Cup. For Tuesday's events, the placing by cumulative scores was the same as placing in the finals, so the gold and silver medalists will have the opportunity to compete in Fort Lauderdale and the bronze medalists in Montreal this spring.
Boudia is also scheduled to compete individually in the 10-meter platform later this week. He prequalified for the event, with the finals set for Sunday.
Fellow Purdue divers Danny Cox, Kara Cook, Erin Mertz and Maddie Miskulin are also in Iowa City competing this week. Cox was scheduled to participate in the men's platform, while Cook and Miskulin are entered in the women's platform. Mertz is competing in the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events, but was unable to advance past the preliminary round of the 3-meter Sunday.
Complete USA Diving Release
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Kassidy Cook and Cassidy Krug won the women's synchronized 3-meter title and David Boudia and Nick McCrory finished first in the men's synchronized 10-meter contest as the first two national titles were awarded Tuesday at the USA Diving Winter National Championships.
In a tight women's 3-meter synchro contest, Cook and Krug scored 308.31 points to edge Christina Loukas and Abby Johnston by just .21 points to win their second national title together. Laura Ryan and Kathryn Connolly (San Antonio, Texas) took third with 283.50 points. University of Iowa divers Veronica Rydze and Deidre Freeman were fourth at 263.76.
Loukas and Johnston led by less than a point heading into the final round. Both teams performed a back 2 ½ pike in the fifth round, and Cook and Krug scored slightly higher with 75.60 points to secure the title.
"I knew it was close, but I had no idea how close it was until it ended," Krug said. "We did a much better back 2 ½ today (than in the prelims), and that was the key."
Boudia won his 13 th career national title when he and McCrory scored 449.13 points to take the men's 10-meter synchro title. Steele Johnson and Toby Stanley took second with 353.85 points, and Dashiell Enos and Mark Murdock were third at 333.63.
"Today was very encouraging. We didn't dive as well as we wanted to, but we still scored 450, so this sets us up well for the summer," Boudia said. "We're excited to represent the United States."
In addition to declaring 10 national titles, the Winter Nationals are being used to select divers for upcoming international meets. The top two synchronized diving teams based on cumulative scores from the prelims and finals are selected to the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix, and the third team earns the right to compete at the Canada Cup. For Tuesday's events, the placing by cumulative scores was the same as placing in the finals, so the gold and silver medalists will have the opportunity to compete in Fort Lauderdale and the bronze medalists in Montreal this spring.