Sterling Again: Wills Wins Silver on Platform at NCAAs

ATLANTA – Purdue’s Tyler Wills put together a sterling performance in platform diving to cap his sophomore season as a silver medalist at the NCAA Championships.

Wills led the way as the Boilermakers had three of the top 15 finishers and four of the top 20 in the final individual event of the national championship meet. Nathaniel Grannis (14th) and Holden Higbie (15th) joined Wills as All-Americans in platform diving. Kaden Springfield also placed 19th.

Purdue finished 29th in the team scoring with 32 points at the NCAA Championships. The Boilermakers had an All-American in all three diving events for the fourth time this decade and finished top 30 at the national championship meet for the eighth time since 2017.

Wills also teamed with Daryn Wright for a silver sweep in platform diving at the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Championships. Like Wills, Wright also won silver on the Tower at both championship showcases. Purdue had both men’s and women’s diving medalists at NCAAs for third fourth time – also accomplishing the feat in 2008, 2011 and 2021.

While earning scores of 70-plus points on five of his six dives in the final for a list total of 451.15, Wills carried an eight-point lead into the final round. Texas A&M’s Emilio Trevino finished strong with an event-high score of 92.5 on a forward 4 ½ (109C) in the final round to soar to the top of the leaderboard. Wills ripped dives in rounds 4 and 5 for scores of 84.15 and 86.70. He also had the top-scoring dive (79.20) of round 1. Trevino’s score of 85 in round 5 essentially matched Wills and set the stage for the dramatic finish.

With Springfield winning bronze on the tower at NCAAs last year, the Boilermakers had different male divers medal at the national championship meet in consecutive years for the second time – also accomplishing the feat in 2008 and 2009.

Higbie earned his second career All-America honor after also scoring among the top 16 on platform as a freshman in 2024. Wills and Grannis earned their first All-America accolades Saturday. Five of the six Purdue Divers that competed this week in Atlanta were an All-American in an event.

Swimmer Evan Mackesy raced for a third consecutive day at NCAAs to close out his sophomore season. He finished 27th in the prelims of the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:44.39 that would rank fifth in team history (he’s already second). Mackesy also represented the Boilermakers in the 400 IM and 500 free and Purdue qualified its 200 free and 200 medley relays as well.

Of the Boilermakers’ program-record 11 NCAA Championships qualifiers, 10 are slated to return for the 2026-27 season. Alex Hotta was the lone senior among Purdue’s group in Atlanta.

SATURDAY AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Platform Diving
Tyler Wills, 451.15 – Finished 2nd (17 Points); Silver Medalist & All-America
Nathaniel Grannis, 360.50 – Finished 14th in Prelim (3 Points); Honorable Mention All-America
Holden Higbie, 354.20 – Finished 15th in Prelim (2 Points); Honorable Mention All-America
Kaden Springfield, 346.80 – Finished 19th in Prelim
200 IM
Evan Mackesy, 1:44.39 – Finished 27th in Prelims