In sync: CCHS’ Audrey Herz pairs up to win national diving title
“We just enjoy diving together. Audrey is never negative. When we were on the podium getting our medals, we were just crying.”
Audrey Herz and Teagan Mulbury go to different high schools in different states and dive for different clubs.
They don’t get many chances to train together.
Despite all that, when they teamed up at the recent USA Diving’s Group A/B national championships in the synchronized platform event, the result was like two musicians from different bands jamming to make great music.
Herz, a rising sophomore at Acton-Carlisle High School, and Mulbury, a rising junior in Noblesville, Indiana, earned first place in the event, held at West Virginia University.
“We went in and tried to have fun,” said Herz, who competes for Boston Area Diving, a club that trains at the Beede Swim & Fitness Center on the Acton-Carlisle High School campus. “It ended up well.”
Mulbury is originally from Rochester, New York, but moved to Indiana three years ago and dives with Ripfest Diving, a club based in Arcadia. She met Herz in 2019. They typically train together briefly just before national competitions.
“We have fun together,” Mulbury said. “We just enjoy diving together. Audrey is never negative. When we were on the podium getting our medals, we were just crying.”
Said Boston Area Diving coach Joe Chirico, “They both have high-level coaches. They have the right body types and work very hard.”
Herz also competed in the platform and 3-meter individual events at the nationals, placing eighth in platform and 20th in the 3-meter event.
“I really like synchronized, because it brings a team feel to such an individual sport,” Herz said.
A tradition of excellence
Last winter Herz played a role in another team’s success, helping Acton-Carlisle’s girls swimming and diving program win the MIAA Division 1 state title with a first-place individual finish in 1-meter diving.
With that performance, she joined a long line of CCHS divers who won girls state titles going all the way back to 1983, when Linda Gailius won a state championship. The string continued into the 21st century, with Jen Sluder, Sarah Landry, Rebecca Jenkinson (a CCHS Hall of Fame inductee), Sloane Brazina, Meghan O’Brien, Livvy Poulin, and the late Maisey O’Donnell winning state championships — some multiple times.
“It’s a community that has a lot of people who go on to college,” Chirico said. “They also have a pool with a diving well. It’s the best in the area.”
As good as the Beede Center is, to train for platform events Herz must travel, going to Montreal or to New Jersey, where Rutgers and Princeton Universities have platforms.
Though some CCHS all-time greats dived for other clubs, athletes including Gailius, Sluder and O’Donnell competed for Boston Area Diving.
“I really looked up to the older divers in my club,” Herz said.
Mulbury dives only for her club and is looking to compete at the NCAA Division I level after high school. Herz has three more years to build her resume and join her synchronized partner in the college ranks.
“I want to dive for a Division I program,” she said, “and maybe go to the Olympics.”
