Feb. 6, 2011
Platform Dive-by-Dive Scoring: Preliminaries | Finals
USA Diving Winter Nationals
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Highlighted by David Boudia winning the 10-meter platform for his 14th career national title, Purdue divers posted two more Top 10 finishes as the USA Diving Winter National Championships concluded Sunday.
Boudia defended his platform championship and secured his second national title of the week-long event with a six-dive score of 578.05 in the finals. Purdue teammate Danny Cox finished eighth (384.20 points) after qualifying for the finals in 10th place among the 12 advancing competitors.
Earlier this week, Boudia won the synchronized platform competition with partner Nick McCrory of Duke. McCrory finished second Sunday and Thomas Finchum, who Boudia has partnered with and captured synchronized platform titles in the past, took third.
The four divers with the highest cumulative scores from the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals who also meet the degree of difficulty requirements will be named to the AT&T Grand Prix team and go on to phase two of the selection process for the 2011 World Championships team. The top four based on cumulative scores on 10-meter were Boudia, McCrory, Finchum and Harrison Jones.Boudia, McCrory and Finchum combined to earn 28 perfect 10s from the judges throughout the contest; Finchum received 12 on three dives, Boudia 10 on three dives and McCrory six on two dives.
"This competition was the most exciting nationals I've ever been in, with Thomas, Nick and I going back and forth trading 10s. The crowd really got into it," Boudia said.
With the performances by Boudia and Cox Sunday, Purdue divers posted five Top 10 finishes at the USA Diving Winter Nationals. Among the Boilermaker women, Kara Cook finished sixth in the platform and Erin Mertz was sixth in the 1-meter.
Boudia scored above 90 points on five of his dives in the finals and broke 100 on his final dive. He was rewarded with 105.45 points on his forward 4 ½ somersault tuck (109C), the same dive in which he has set single-dive record scores with in years past. He also remained perfect since the beginning of the 2010-11 school year, winning all 22 events he has entered.
Cox scored above 60 points on four of his six dives in the finals and also saved his best for last. The senior was rewarded with 79.20 points on his back 1 ½ somersault 3 ½ twist free (5237D) to close out his performance list.
Complete USA Diving Release
2008 Olympian Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill./The Woodlands, Texas) and Cassidy Krug (Coraopolis, Pa./Stanford, Calif.) tied for the women's 3-meter title Sunday at the USA Diving Winter National Championships. It's the first time there have been co-champions at a U.S. national championship.
Other winners on the final day of competition were Olympian David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind./West Lafayette, Ind.), who came out on top in a men's 10-meter final filled with 10s, and Olympian Mary Beth Dunnichay (Elwood, Ind.) and Katie Bell (Columbus, Ohio), who won the women's synchronized 10-meter competition.
Loukas and Krug finished with 339.60 points apiece in the women's 3-meter finals a day after Harrison Jones (Spring, Texas/ Los Angeles, Calif.) won the men's 3-meter title by .05 points. Krug was in third place and Loukas in fourth heading into the final round but vaulted to the top spot with strong final dives in the last round.
Both Loukas and Krug finished with a full out, and Loukas averaged 8.5s for 76.50 points and Krug scored 72 points to claim their national titles - the ninth for Loukas and seventh for Krug. Summer Allman ( Lansing, Mich.) ended up third with 339.60 points, and Johnston scored 332.25 for fourth.
"I've never seen a tie like this before. I thought synchro was close," said Krug, who edged Loukas and Abby Johnston (Upper Arlington, Ohio/ Durham, N.C.) by .21 points to win the synchronized 3-meter title with Kassidy Cook (The Woodlands, Texas) on Tuesday. "I knew I had to hit my last dive, and full out is usually one of my steadiest dives, so I like to leave it for last."
Boudia scored 578.05 points to win his 14th national title, with Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C./Durham, N.C) finishing second at 545.15 and Olympian Thomas Finchum (Indianapolis, Ind.) taking bronze with 507.00. The three combined to earn 28 perfect 10s from the judges throughout the contest; Finchum received 12 on three dives, Boudia 10 on three dives and McCrory six on two dives.
"This competition was the most exciting nationals I've ever been in, with Thomas, Nick and I going back and forth trading 10s. The crowd really got into it," Boudia said.
Dunnichay and Bell scored 283.20 to win their first national title together, with Kaylea Arnett (Spring, Texas) and Michelle Cabassol (Montgomery, Texas) winning silver at 271.41 and Laura Ryan (Elk River, Minn./ Bloomington, Ind.) and Amy Cozad (Decatur, Ind./Bloomington, Ind.) finishing third with 262.41 points.
"We had fun. We haven't trained together that much, but we knew we could do our dives well," Bell said.
In the two individual events, the four divers with the highest cumulative scores from the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals who also meet the degree of difficulty requirements will be named to the AT&T Grand Prix team and go on to phase two of the selection process for the 2011 World Championships team. The top four based on cumulative scores on 10-meter were Boudia, McCrory, Finchum and Jones. The top four on 3-meter were Loukas, Kelci Bryant (Chatham, Ill./Minneapolis, Minn.), Cook and Johnston.
Bell and Dunnichay along with Jessica Parratto (Dover, N.H./Indianapolis, Ind.) and Anna James (Midland, Texas) were selected to compete in the Grand Prix for synchro. Arnett and Cabassol will have the opportunity to compete in the Canada Cup.
At the conclusion of the championships, team awards were presented to the Florida State University (men's collegiate team award), Indiana University (women's and combined collegiate team award), The Woodlands Diving Academy (women's and combined club team award) and Longhorn Aquatics (men's club team award). Jones and Bryant were the individual high point scorers for the Championships.