After losing the 1-meter springboard on his final dive Thursday night, sophomore Joona Puhakka took home the 3-meter event to earn his second national title in as many years.
"I really wanted to win both (events) but I was really happy to win one of them," Puhakka said. "Winning the 3-(meter) meant more to me because it's an Olympic event."
After falling just short of his second straight title in the 1-meter at the NCAA Championships in East Meadow, N.Y., Puhakka came back with a strong performance in the 3-meter, an event he had finished third in last year.
In the preliminaries, Puhakka qualified as the top seed heading into the finals of the 3-meter. After his first three dives of the competition, Puhakka trailed the favorite, Tennessee junior Phillip Jones, by only a few points.
On his fourth dive of the finals, Puhakka tied Jones after successfully executing his most difficult dive of the meet, a reverse two-and-a-half somersaults with one-and-a-half twist pike. He went into the final dive only two points ahead of Jones.
"Ususally I don't look at the scores during the meet," Puhakka said. "But this time I heard his scores before I dove, so it gave me some pressure."
Puhakka attempted the same dive he had tried in his final dive of the 1-meter competition. Yet unlike the day before when Puhakka missed his final dive to give his competitors an opening, he hit it, topping Jones by nearly 12 points.
"That's what separates the kids who can be champions and the ones that are almost there," ASU diving coach Mark Bradshaw said. "The ability to step up and get it done and ignore everything that happened the night before."
With the championship Puhakka became the first diver -- male or female -- in the history of ASU's diving program to win two national championships in a career.
Puhakka, considered one of the favorites in the 1-meter, finished third in the event on Thursday night. He was ahead of Tennessee freshman Jevon Tarantino and South Carolina junior Andy Bradley heading into the final dive. But Puhakka missed his final dive, giving both divers an opening.
"If you get to this meet, and you're not on your game, you're not going to win," Bradshaw said.
The championship marks the end of what had been a long two months for Puhakka, who was forced to travel nearly every weekend, something he said affected his condition going into the NCAAs.
"Traveling and staying in a hotel for a month straight, it gets rough on you," Puhakka said. "But because I've been competing at a high level my whole life, I was able to come back and get a good dive."
Puhakka said he will take a week off to relax before beginning his training for this summer's Olympic Games in Athens.
"[The Championship] gives me more confidence, more passion to practice for the Olympic games," Puhakka said.
Swimming
In the pool, senior Nick Brunelli's 10th place finish in the 100m freestyle was tops among ASU swimmers. Brunelli also snagged an 11th place finish in the 50m freestyle. Other swimmers competing included senior Ahmed Hussein, sophomore David Kolozar and junior Jeff Barrett.
Puhakka's championship led the way for the team, which sent five competitors to compete in the NCAA Championships. The Sun Devils finished 18th as a team. Auburn steamrolled the competition to score 634 points and gain the team national title.
Reach the reporter at matthew.schubert@asu.edu.
