March 16, 2006

ATHENS, Ga. – Senior Allison Brennan earned another All-America honor and exhibited a solid performance, but fell just short of her second national title as she finished second on the 1-meter board at the Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Athens, Ga. Thursday evening. The Huntington Beach, Calif. native entered the finals in third place and jumped ahead of Purdue’s Carrie McCambridge to place second with a score of 326.10. Southern California’s Blythe Hartley led the entire day and claimed the title with a score of 353.50. Qiong Jie Huang of Hawaii placed third with a score of 324.05.

“This was the toughest field we have ever had here at the Championships,” said head diving coach Todd Sherritt. “Blythe is a two-time 1-meter champion and for Allison to finish second is a great place for her. I was really excited that we were even in the final eight and for her to come in second speaks volumes. Not only are these the best divers in the nation, they are some of the best in the world and this is a good indication of where Allison competes internationally.”

Brennan was in third place going into her final dive of the night and needed eight’s across the board to move into second. She scored 88.50 to move past Jie Huang and claim silver.

The Gamecocks are currently 18th with a total of 17 points, all earned by Brennan. Earlier in the day, sophomore Christie Williams competed in the 200 individual medley but did not advance to the finals. Williams swam 2:04.14 to finish 57th, unable to score any points for the Gamecocks.

The Championships resume Friday with Williams competing in the 100-butterfly and junior Lindsey Tiberio competing in the 100-breast. Brennan returns to action and will compete on the 3-meter board.