Ithaca College junior Kailee Payne was crowned the NCAA Division III Individual National Champion on both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards at the 2024 NCAA Division III Swimming & Diving Championships. On the 3-meter boards, Payne ended up surpassing the 2023 winning score (479.40) as she dazzled in the finals and put together a finals score of 509.50, which was over 20 points better than second-place finisher Veronica Fong from the University of Chicago (487.70). Earlier in the week she became Ithaca’s sixth individual national champion in program history when she ended up besting the 1-meter field with a finals score of 515.15, defeating the next closest competitor­ by over 62 points (Fong, 452.70).