Individual Events Conclude and Synchro Events Begin in Morgantown

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The final individual champions of the 2026 USA Diving Junior National Championships were crowned today. 

 

In the 12-13 girls 3-meter event, Raine Rutter (Stanford Diving) went home with the title of junior national champion after two silver medals earlier in the meet. Rutter’s score of 307.05 just narrowly beat yesterday’s 12-13 girls 1-meter champion, Sophia Kazimir’s (Germantown Academy Dive Club) score of 305.20. London Smith (Mission Viejo Nadadores Dive) also added a medal to her 2026 Junior National Championships collection, scoring a 272.15.  

 

Ayden Parris (Long Island Divers) grabbed his second gold medal, winning the 11 & Under boys 1-meter event with 238.95. Burke Layo (Atlanta Diving Association), the 11 & Under boys platform winner, joined Parris on the podium in the silver position with 212.25. Dylan Dannemann (Atlanta Diving Association) found himself on the podium for the third time this week after placing third with 201.15. 

 

Hampton Pigford (Atlanta Diving Association) dove to gold in the 12-13 boys platform with 285.10. Pigford was joined by international athlete Ivan Kliminov (Mission Viejo Nadadores Dive), who shared the top podium spot in all three of his events this week. Gunnar Mobley (Charger Dive Club) earned a silver with his 266.35. Joining Mobley in the silver position was international athlete Zeming Lu (Trojan Dive Club). Rounding out the podium was Frank Li (Trojan Dive Club) with 261.65. 

 

Today marked the start of synchronized competition. In the 14-18 girls 3-meter synchro event, the team of Ava Jolley (Carolina Diving Academy) and Kayla Jensen (Mission Viejo Nadadores Dive) placed first with a dominant 291.06. In second place were Emma and Ella Guo (Arrow Dive Club) with 262.26. Closely following the Guo sisters were Marleigh Dasilva (Dominion Dive Club) and Zoe Quigley (Mission Viejo Nadadores Dive) with 261.36. 

 

In the 14-18 boys platform synchro event, Leyton Dean (RipFest) earned both a gold and a silver medal. Dean won the event paired with 2026 16-18 boys platform champion Noah Horwitz (RipFest) with 311.28. Dean also teamed up with 2026 14-15 boys platform champion Pengxu Lor (Minnesota Diving Academy) to produce a second-place 303.72. The third team of Dylan Zimsky (Montgomery Dive Club) and Andy Williamson (NC Dive Club) scored a 260.46. 

 

The 2026 USA Diving Junior National Championships conclude tomorrow with the 14-18 girls platform synchro event and 14-18 boys 3-meter synchro event. All events will be streaming live on the USA Diving YouTube channel, and event information can be found at usadiving.org/2026-usa-diving-junior-national-championships.