Dive-by-Dive Scoring / Live Video
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Three Boilermakers advanced to the men's 1-meter final and the Purdue divers were also part of a pair of third-place finishes in the synchronized events on day two of the USA Diving Winter Nationals.
Steele Johnson (4th, 404.25), Brandon Loschiavo (6th, 370.35) and Joe Cifelli (8th, 343.45) gave Purdue three of the nine divers to advance to the event final Monday. Scores are cumulative and carry over. The top two finishers are expected to earn berths at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Sydney Couch, Morgan Meixner and Max Showalter accounted for the Boilermakers podium finishes Friday. Couch and Meixner teamed up for a third-place showing in the women's synchronized 3-meter competition. Showalter and Zach Cooper were third in the men's synchronized 10-meter competition.
Courtesy of @USADiving, Sydney Couch & @Morgan_Meixner on the podium today in Columbus after taking 3rd in 3-meter synchro. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/hWU1WyoovU
-- Purdue Swimming (@PurdueWSwim) December 16, 2016
Samm Reese (233.50) finished 10th among a field of 20 divers in the women's 1-meter prelim Thursday. She started and closed her list strong, averaging 46.7 points per round. But she finished 2.25 points shy of the ninth and final spot in the event final.
Couch and Meixner posted list scores of 242.22 in the final and 237.57 in the prelim for a combined total of 479.79. They entered the final only 1.23 points behind second place, but the improvement in their list score was not enough to keep pace with the top two teams. However, they were the top-finishing tandem among current college divers in the eight-team field. The top individual score of the day for Couch and Meixner was a 57.12 on a back 2 ½ somersault tuck in round three of the final.
Showalter and Cooper posted list scores of 346.11 in the final and 336.06 in the prelim for a combined total of 682.17. Their top individual score of the day was a 74.88 on an inward 3 1/3 somersault tuck in round five of the final. That was a 15.36-point improvement on their score of the same dive in the prelim.
Showalter is scheduled to compete again in the individual 10-meter event as well as the mixed synchronized 10-meter competition with Olympian Amy Cozad.
Sam Dorman (419.05) and Michael Hixon (411.00), Team USA's synchronized 3-meter silver medalists at the 2016 Olympics, are atop the 1-meter leaderboard after Friday's prelim. Johnson was in second place through round four after averaging 70.36 points on his first four dives, highlighted by a list-high 75.95 on an inward 2 ½ somersault tuck in round three. But a score of 54 in round five led to him dropping to fourth place. All three divers ahead of him did not have a sub-60 score in any of the six rounds.
Olympic silver medalist @Steele_Johnson doing work during men's 1m prelims at #WinterNats16! pic.twitter.com/fAivhg00ty
-- USA Diving (@USADiving) December 16, 2016
Loschiavo averaged 61.72 points per round to remain among the top half of the 21-diver field throughout. He earned a list-high 73.5 on his reverse 2 ½ somersault tuck in round four. Cifelli got off to a slow start with a pair of scores in the 40s over his first two rounds. But he averaged 63.73 points over each of the final four rounds to climb the leaderboard and lock up the top-eight finish. He had a list-high score of 69.75 on his inward 2 ½ somersault tuck in round five.
The USA Diving Winter Nationals resume Sunday at 10 a.m. ET with the women's 10-meter and men's 3-meter prelims. The top 12 in both events advance to the 4 p.m. semifinals. Lexi Vincent, Cifelli, Loschiavo and Johnson are scheduled to compete.
BOILERMAKERS COMPETING AT USA DIVING WINTER NATIONALS
Joe Cifelli - 1-meter, 3-meter
Sydney Couch - Synchronized 3-meter (with Morgan Meixner)
Steele Johnson - 1-meter, 3-meter
Brandon Loschiavo - 1-meter, 3-meter
Morgan Meixner - 1-meter, Synchronized 3-meter (with Sydney Couch)
Samm Reese - 1-meter
Max Showalter - 10-meter, Synchronized 10-meter (with Zach Cooper), Mixed Synchronized 10-meter (with Amy Cozad)
Lexi Vincent - 10-meter
DAILY SCHEDULES
Sessions with events potentially featuring Boilermakers (List to be updated during meet)
Sunday, December 18
10 a.m.
Women's 10-meter Preliminary (Top 18 Advance) - Lexi Vincent
Men's 3-meter Preliminary (Top 18 Advance) - Joe Cifelli, Brandon Loschiavo, Steele Johnson
4 p.m.
Women's 10-meter Semifinal (Top 12 Advance)
Men's 3-meter Semifinal (Top 12 Advance) - Steele Johnson, Brandon Loschiavo, Joe Cifelli
Women's 1-meter Final
Monday, December 19
10 a.m.
Women's 3-meter Preliminary (Top 18 Advance)
Men's 10-meter Preliminary (Top 18 Advance) - Max Showalter
4:30 p.m.
Women's 3-meter Semifinal (Top 12 Advance)
Men's 10-meter Semifinal (Top 12 Advance) - Max Showalter
Men's 1-meter Final - Steele Johnson, Brandon Loschiavo, Joe Cifelli
Tuesday, December 20
4:30 p.m.
Women's 10-meter Final
Men's 3-meter Final - Steele Johnson, Joe Cifelli, Brandon Loschiavo
Mixed Synchronized 10-meter Final & Mixed Synchronized 3-meter Final - Max Showalter
Wednesday, December 21
4:30 p.m.
Women's 3-meter Final
Men's 10-meter Final - Max Showalter