2025 National Championships Kick Off With Mixed Synchro Finals
Mixed 10-meter synchro medalists: Gold - Cranford/Wills; Silver - McAfee/Springfield; 3rd - Mulbury/Cates
AUBURN, Ala. – The 2025 USA Diving National Championships kicked off Friday with finals in two mixed synchronized events. Bayleigh Cranford (Jamestown, N.C./Longhorn Aquatics) and Tyler Wills (Carmel, Ind./Purdue Diving) won mixed synchronized 10-meter and Kyndal Knight (Stanley, N.C./Unattached) and Luke Hernandez (Holly Springs, N.C./Duke Diving) won mixed synchronized 3-meter.
It came down to the final round in the mixed synchronized 3-meter contest. Knight and Hernandez finished with 284.10 points to claim the title by 1.38 points over Krysta Palmer (Reno, Nev./Nevada Diving Club) and Jack Ryan (Denver, Colo./Unattached)
Less than a point separated the top two teams heading into the last round, with Palmer and Ryan leading by 0.78 points. Knight and Hernandez came through with 60.30 points on a front 2 ½ with one twist on their final dive, enough to overtake Palmer and Ryan, who closed out their list with 58.14 points on a front 2 ½ with two twists.
“I was very calm the whole time. Luke’s very calming. We train well together. We did what we needed to do to figure it out,” Knight said.
Luke Sitz (Prosper, Texas/Unattached) and Sophie Verzyl (Columbia, S.C./Unattached) finished third with 251.73 points.
Cranford and Wills, who also won the mixed 10-meter synchro title at the 2023 USA Diving Winter National Championships, scored 312.06 points to win the 2025 mixed 10-meter synchro national title.
“Doing it already in previous years, coming in, I think we were pretty confident in our synchro. We just wanted to have fun, and I think we did that. It’s a really fun event,” Cranford said.
Cranford and Wills finished their list with a reverse 3 ½ tuck that earned 84.66 points.
“I felt pressure, but we deal with it. It’s our favorite dive, so we’re both extra confident in it, and I guess that helps,” Wills said.
Sophie McAfee (Pasadena, Calif.) and Kaden Springfield (Powell, Ohio) were second at 265.44, and Hadley Mulbury (Noblesville, Ind.) and Grant Cates (Swayzee, Ind.) were third at 229.32 points.
The USA Diving National Championships continue through Friday, May 16. Saturday’s competition features preliminaries and finals for men’s 3-meter synchro and women’s 10-meter synchro. The championships will determine U.S. teams for several 2025 international events.
