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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 25, ISSUE 5 72 BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com S teele Johnson could be lining up for a big 2016. So far, he's off to a good start. The Purdue freshman, an Olym- pic hopeful for the Games in Rio de Janeiro, is a two-time NCAA Cham- pion, winning collegiate diving's top honors in the 1-meter and platform events in Iowa City, Iowa, in late March. "Steele's really a killer when it comes to competition," Purdue div- ing coach Adam Soldati said. "The guy loves to win, there's no question about it." Indeed. During his first season, Johnson was named Big Ten Diver-of-the- Week six times and finished second in all three disciplines at the Big Ten Championships. After his NCAA titles — he won the consolation fi- nal of the 3-meter, also, earning a third All-America citation — he was named the NCAA's Diver-of-the-Year. It's not a bad résumé for a diver who hasn't been shy about where his top goals lie: On the international scene. "It's super cool that I won two NCAA titles as a freshman," he said from poolside, a few days after his Championships. "NCAA titles are very, very huge. Only three divers at Purdue have done that, but at the same time, my goals are kind of elsewhere, they're kind of higher up, kind of bigger. "But I'm not going to diminish this and say 'Oh, it's only an NCAA title.' It's super big, super cool. I'm really proud I was able to do it for my school, but now it's time to move on to the next thing and start refocus- ing for the Olympics." But Johnson might be better posi- tioned now for the Olympics, where he's likely to partner with David Boud- ia in the 10-meter synchronized plat- form and could compete individually, because of his experience at Purdue. Here, Soldati says, Johnson's been able to focus his attention on the preparation more than the results, feeling that if the former is good then the latter will be as well. And that ap- proach holds, Soldati says, whether it be for a dual Big Ten meet, which Johnson wins NCAA, focuses on next step Tom Campbell Steele Johnson's resolve has improved since he arrived at Purdue, Coach Adam Soldati says, a reason why John- son won two NCAA titles as a rookie. 'Killer' D ( r ) ive