Friday Results: Prelims | Finals | Dive-by-Dive Scoring | Meet Central
IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Steele Johnson of Purdue men's swimming and diving was victorious again in a finals competition of a springboard event, but Friday it was the consolation final of 3-meter diving in which the freshman finished first at the NCAA Championships.
Johnson added Honorable Mention All-America accolades on 3-meter to the 1-meter NCAA title he won Thursday. Lackluster scores on his fourth (44.20) and fifth dives (56.10) of the prelims prevented him from qualifying for the championship final. He won the consolation final with a score of 471.90, improving on his prelim mark (396.35) by 75.55.
Johnson has accounted for all 29 team points Purdue has accrued through the first two days of the national championship meet, putting the Boilers in 19th place in the team scoring. He earned nine points with his consolation final victory Friday and became the team's first diver to earn All-American honors in both springboard diving events since David Boudia in 2011.
For the second day in a row, the Boilermakers were unfortunate to have a senior finish 17th in the prelims. Friday it was Lyam Dias who placed 17th in the prelims of the 100 breaststroke. If he had finished one spot better, he would have had a chance to score in the consolation final in the evening session. Dias' time of 52.74 was just two hundredths of a second off his season-best mark from the Big Ten Championships.
Dias also raced with Purdue's 200 medley relay team. The quartet of Stephen Seliskar, Dias, Austin Flager and Adam Johnston finished 22nd in the prelims. Their time of 1:27.04 was about a half of a second off the new program record (1:26.57) Purdue established at the Big Ten Championships.
Marat Amaltdinov, Jamie Bissett and Guillermo Blanco also competed in individual events Friday. Bissett was in position to advance to at least the 3-meter diving consolation final, but missed his fifth dive (27.00) of the prelims badly and was unable to make up for it with only one dive remaining. The senior finished 33rd but will have an opportunity to compete in platform diving Saturday.
Blanco finished 29th in the prelims of the 400 IM and will close out his Purdue career in the 200 butterfly Saturday.
Amaltdinov made his debut at the NCAA Championships with a 42nd-place finish in the prelims of the 100 breast, becoming Purdue's freshman swimmer to compete in an individual event at the national championship meet since 2006. His top event is the 200 breast and he will race along with Dias in the event Saturday.
The NCAA Championships conclude Saturday with swimming prelims at noon, platform diving prelims at 2:45 p.m. and finals at 8 p.m. (all times ET). The Boilermakers will be represented in three events Saturday, highlighted by having four student-athletes in the platform diving field.
Purdue Entries on Day Two of NCAA Championships
^ -- Personal Season-Best Time
3-Meter Diving
Steele Johnson, 471.90 - Won Consolation Final, 9th Overall (9 Points); Honorable Mention All-America
Jamie Bissett, 341.80 - Finished 33rd in Prelims
100 Breast
Lyam Dias, 52.74 - Finished 17th in Prelims
Marat Amaltdinov, 54.18 - Finished 42nd in Prelims
200 Medley Relay
Seliskar, Dias, Flager & Johnston, 1:27.04^ - Finished 22nd in Prelims
400 IM
Guillermo Blanco, 3:47.87 - Finished 29th in Prelims
Saturday, March 28 - Noon Swimming Prelims, 2:45 Diving Prelims; 8 p.m. Finals (All Times ET)
200 Breast - Marat Amaltdinov & Lyam Dias
200 Fly - Guillermo Blanco
Platform Diving - Jamie Bissett, Nate Cox, Steele Johnson & Sean Mokhtari