ROSEMONT, Ill. -- A fourth consecutive sweep of the springboard events earned Purdue's Steele Johnson his 10th career Big Ten Diver of the Week award.
Johnson and fellow Boilermaker Joe Cifelli teamed up to give Purdue a 1-2 finish in both springboard events at the House of Champions Invitational in Indianapolis this past weekend. The 1-meter competition came down to the final round, with Johnson rallying to win and in the process remain unbeaten on 1-meter this season. He's now 9-for-10 in event victories over the Boilermakers' first five meets this year.
Johnson has been named Big Ten Diver of the Week four times this year, winning the award all four times he's been nominated. Although he won't be able to eclipse the benchmark this season, Johnson (10) is now at the halfway point as he chases David Boudia's Big Ten record (20) for Diver of the Week awards. Barring injury, he should be eligible to win four more Diver of the Week awards this season.
Johnson posted victorious list scores of 428.7 on 1-meter and 437.15 on 3-meter in his first competitions at the IU Natatorium since qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Games at the same aquatic center this summer. Both events featured at least 32 divers competing.
On 1-meter, Johnson and Cifelli both posted four scores above 70 points. But Johnson earned his top score (78.4) on his final dive (forward 2 1/2 somersault pike with a twist) to rally for the victory. The Olympic silver medalist earned a higher score in each round as the competition progressed, overcoming Cifelli's career-best score (426.95) on 1-meter in the process.
In the 3-meter competition, Johnson was victorious by 16 points. He surged over the second half of the competition the top scores of both rounds four and five, 85 points on a forward 2 ½ somersault twist pike and a list-high 94.5 points on a reverse 1 ½ somersault 3 ½ twist.
Sunday would have been Johnson's first opportunity of the current college season to compete on the platforms. But he is focusing on the springboard events until January, when he is likely to resume competition from the platforms. The full Olympic year of training and competition on 10-meter takes a toll on a diver. Head coach Adam Soldati is aiming to keep Johnson as healthy as possible as they look ahead to the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships in February and March.
The Purdue divers accounted for 15 top-10 finishes at the House of Champions Invitational, including three from Cifelli. Because there were five teams, including the Boilermakers, which were only represented by their divers at the larger three-day invitational meet, formal diving scores were not kept. Cifelli would have accounted for 47 team points and Johnson 40 points. That would have ranked them second and tied for third on the team among the individual scoring posted by their swimming counterparts at Virginia Tech's H2Okie Fall Invitational.
Most of the Purdue divers will compete at the USA Diving Winter Nationals next month in Columbus, Ohio. That will serve as the final meet of the fall-semester schedule. The Boilermakers' college meets resume Jan. 13 with a co-ed dual against Michigan State at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.