ROSEMONT, Ill. -- A trio of top three finishes at the Ohio State Invitational has earned Purdue men's swimming and diving's Steele Johnson Big Ten Diver of the Week honors for the third time this fall.
Johnson won on 3-meter, was the runner-up in the first platform competition of the season and took third on 1-meter to open the weekend. He was the top finisher for the Purdue men in all three events.
The men's divers competed separate from their swimming teammates this past weekend, joining the women at the Ohio State Invitational in Columbus where they competed against Kentucky, Miami (Fla.), Virginia, Wisconsin and OSU. Led by Johnson, the Purdue men racked up 167.5 team points to post the best diving-only score of the weekend. Ohio State finished second with 115.5 team points.
Johnson was also named Big Ten Diver of the Week Oct. 21 and Nov. 11 and the league's Freshman of the Week Oct. 21 and Oct. 28.
He qualified eighth as the last man to advance to the 3-meter final Saturday. However, he improved on his prelim score (353.35) by 88.5 to win the event (414.85) by 52.55 over teammate Jamie Bissett.
Johnson finished second to unattached diver Zhipeng Zeng on platform, but the Purdue freshman was credited as the event winner in the final results released by Ohio State. His score of 402.85 in his first official collegiate platform competition was good for 10th in program history. The Boilermakers had the top five finishers in the event behind Zeng. Again, Johnson bested Bissett, the third-place finisher, by 42.75 and his score was 75.8 better than the top finisher from another college.
The Carmel, Ind., native improved on his 1-meter score from 358 to 364.70 from the prelims to the finals. Miami's Sam Dorman, who like Johnson has also competed in synchronized events at USA Diving competitions with Olympian and Purdue alumnus David Boudia, was victorious on 1-meter.
Johnson's top individual dive scores of the weekend were a 76.80 on an inward 3 ½ somersault tuck on 10-meter, an 84.00 on a reverse 1 ½ somersault 3 ½ twist free on 3-meter and a 67.50 on a reverse 2 ½ somersault tuck on 1-meter.
Johnson and other selected Purdue divers will return to Columbus Dec. 16-21 for the USA Diving Winter Nationals. They're idle until then.
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Was 8th going into the finals tonight and ended up coming away with 1st! I've got an awesome support system helping me stay focused! #AO1
-- Steele Johnson (@Steele_Johnson) November 23, 2014