Boudia in the lead after 10-meter prelims at Olympic Trials

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. (WLFI) - Former Purdue diver David Boudia earned 11 perfect 10 scores throughout the day Tuesday and will be the leader entering the finals of the men's 10-meter platform competition at the U.S. Olympic Trials. 

Boudia and Cassidy Krug finished atop the leaderboard after the men's 10-meter and women's 3-meter semifinals, respectively, Tuesday.

Former Boilers Danny Cox and Erin Mertz also competed Tuesday. Cox finished 13th in the men's 10-meter platform. Mertz finished in 14th in the women's 3-meter springboard. Both divers advanced through the preliminaries to the semifinals but narrowly missed out on being among the 12 finalists. Cox finished with a cumulative score of 729.20 and Mertz finished with a cumulative score of 554.40.

Boudia will carry a lead of 39.80 points into Saturday's final.

In a men's 10-meter competition filled with 10s, Boudia finished the semifinals with 1083.75 points. He trailed by four points after the preliminaries but took the lead on his first dive in the semis, earning 95.40 points on his armstand double back with 2 ½ twists. He earned 11 perfect 10s throughout the day. He had six in the prelims, including three on a front 4 ½ tuck that went for 107.30 points. He also earned three 10s on his reverse 3 ½ tuck and added five more 10s on his inward 3 ½ tuck in the semifinals.

Immediately following Boudia's near-perfect inward, Nick McCrory responded with four 10s of his own on his armstand double back somersault with 1 ½ twists.

"I'm proud of how Nick handled that. It's not easy to go after 10s, and I was impressed with his mental toughness," Boudia said.

As a synchronized 10-meter platform duo, Boudia and McCrory will take a 100-point lead into the event final of that competition Thursday. The NBC Sports Network will provide live coverage of the synchronized 10-meter finals from 10 p.m. to midnight ET Thursday night.

McCrory, who led after the prelims, added one more 10 on his back 2 ½ with 2 ½ twists and is second with 1043.95 points.

"I dug myself into a hole in the first round, but I was able to bounce back. Sometimes the competition helps and you can really feed off it," McCrory said.

Thomas Finchum had a near-perfect reverse 3 ½ tuck that earned 10s from six of the seven judges in the semis and heads into the finals in third place with 974.95 points.

In women's 3-meter, Krug pieced together two solid lists of dives in the preliminaries and semifinals, finishing the day with 718.85 points to take a 39.2-point lead over 2008 Olympian Christina Loukas heading into Saturday's final.

In the semifinals, Krug scored 70 or more points on four of her five dives, including 75.95 points on her front 3 ½ pike and 72 points on her inward 2 ½ and back 2 ½ pikes.

"I took it one dive at a time, and it was pretty successful. For finals, I want to let my body go and let it do what it wants to do. I'm going to trust in what I can do," said Krug, who is looking to make her first Olympic team.

Loukas stands in second place with 679.65 points, including 357.80 from her semifinal list after going 321.85 in the prelims. Her best dive came in round two with 76.50 points on her reverse 2 ½ pike.

"I was really happy with the semifinals. I think I handled everything well," Loukas said. "I was playing it safe this morning. I was more aggressive and confident this evening, and it worked. I'm going to stick to that for finals."

Kassidy Cook qualified third with 653.25 points, followed by Bianca Alvarez in fourth at 626.00.

The top 12 divers advance to Saturday's finals, with two spots on the Olympic team at stake.

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials continue through June 24. Wednesday's action features preliminaries and semifinals in men's 3-meter and women's 10-meter.