USA Diving Nationals: Sophie Verzyl, Joshua Hedberg Cap Nationals with Titles
Sophie Verzyl and Joshua Hedberg capped the USA Diving Nationals with titles on Friday, the final day of competition at Auburn University.
Verzyl led the enter way in finals, scoring 626.65 points to finish 40 points ahead of prelims leader Lily Witte. Verzyl and Witte were part of different pairs that shared the 3-meter synchro gold medal earlier in the week, and Verzyl and Witte were third and fourth, respectively, on 1-meter.
Verzyl’s synchro teammate, Anna Kwong, finished third in 576.10. Kyndal Knight scored 571.20 to finish fourth, while Bailee Sturgill, Witte’s synchro teammate, was fifth.
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“It’s my very first (individual) national championship, so it’s very exciting,” Verzyl told USA Diving. “I kind of told myself I’d be tired tomorrow and just hunker down and make it through this week. It worked out OK. I just tried to put myself in a head space of being in practice and just do what I had to do and execute and not think about it too much. I was having a good time.”
Hedberg won his third individual title and his second crown of the week, having teamed with Carson Tyler to win platform synchro.
Witte led after Wednesday’s prelims of 3-meter with a score of 290.20, 2.1 points up on 1-meter champ Kwong. Verzyl was a further 12 points back, then moved into second place in quarterfinals, 5.15 points behind Witte. Knight moved up third, with Kwong sliding to fourth.
Verzyl jumped into the lead with a score of 69.75 points in the first round of the finals. She didn’t let it slip, delivering the highest-scoring dive of the third, fourth and fifth rounds to finish it off, including 71.40 points on the fifth and final round for the best dive of the entire final.
Kwong kept the pressure on Witte, but the latter was steady enough to hold onto her edge for second.
Hedberg left little drama, scoring 891.50 points. He led all the way in finals, finishing 25.05 points ahead of Jordan Rzepka. Maxwell Weinrich was third, with Tyler Wills fourth.
Rzepka led the way after prelims on Wednesday with a score of 433.85. Weinrich was second, followed by Hedberg and Wills. Hedberg took the lead in semifinals with a score of 462.80, 28 points up on Wills with Rzepka in third.
Hedberg scored 78.40 points in the first round of finals, the highest score of the round. He punctuated the title with 91.80 points in the final round.
“I just wanted to relax and enjoy that last dive, and I feel like I did that,” Hedberg said. “I’m really happy with my performance this week, and I’m excited to keep it going.”
The contenders traded 90-point dives later. Weinrich scored 94.05 on his 207C in the fifth round of six, his second straight round-leading dive. But Rzepka outscored him by 20 points with his 5156B in the sixth to score 95.00 points and surge into second.