SEC Championships: Camyla Monroy Opens with 1-Meter Title
Florida sophomore Camyla Monroy opened the 2025 SEC Championships Monday night with gold in 1-meter diving.
Monroy came out on top with 350.45 points, but the big winner of the event might have been the University of Texas, which placed four divers in the top seven.
Monroy had been just sixth out of prelims but delivered a stellar performance in the final. She ended up 22 points ahead of South Carolina’s Sophie Verzyl, who got silver in 328.40.
As a freshman, the native of La Paz, Mexico, finished second on 1-meter and 3-meter at SECs to go with the platform title, though Monroy’s seventh place at NCAAs in 1-meter was her best of the national meet.
After Verzyl came the Texas contingent. Hailey Hernandez, who had been first in prelims, finished third with a score of 316.20. Teammate Caroline Kupka followed in fourth, with Alejandra Estudillo fifth. Bailey Cranford was seventh and Taylor Fox 10th, giving Texas 118 points from the event. Kentucky was the next highest scorer at 43, while Monroy’s 32 were the only points Florida gleaned.
The Gators are chasing a third consecutive sweep of the men’s and women’s titles at SECs, with the addition this year of the University of Texas complicating matters and challenging the run of 12 straight titles for the men’s team. The last non-Florida team to win the SEC was Auburn in 2012.
Mayson Richards of Texas A&M was sixth, with Arkansas’ Maria Jose Sanchez eighth. LSU’s Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant, who had been third last year, finished 12th, a spot behind teammate Helle Tuxen. Tuxen was fifth in 2024.
The five-day meet at Georgia’s Gabrielsen Natatorium starts slowly, with diving the only event of Monday. Tuesday brings the men’s 3-meter diving event, plus men’s and women’s 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays.
