March 6, 2012
AUBURN, Ala. — South Carolina senior Courtney Forcucci set the 12-dive school record on the three-meter springboard on Tuesday with a score of 670.75 to finish runner-up in the finals at the NCAA Zone B Diving meet at Auburn’s James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
Forcucci, who already qualified for the NCAA Championships with a second-place finish on the one-meter springboard on Monday, broke former Gamecock Taryn Zack’s record of 669.30, which was set at the 2010 NCAA Zone B meet. Forcucci finished 4.1 points behind Auburn’s Vennie Dantin.
“Courtney had another great performance,” South Carolina diving coach Todd Sherritt said. “We need to make some adjustments for next week (at the NCAA Championships). Second is a great finish, but we want to win, so we are not completely satisfied at this point. We are in good position for the title, so we will get back to work and get to our peak.”
Freshman Patricia Kranz had another impressive performance as she advanced to the finals along with Forcucci and placed 15th with a score of 587.55. Kranz finished 18th in the one-meter competition on Monday.
“I was very impressed with Patti Kranz today,” Sherritt said. “Her 15th-place finish is a great accomplishment in a field of 43. She will be contender next year.”
On the men’s side, freshman Cole Miller came up just short of reaching the finals in the men’s one-meter competition, finishing 20th in the preliminaries with a score of 281.65.
The Gamecocks will close out the NCAA Zone B meet on Wednesday. The men’s platform preliminaries are set for 11:30 a.m., while the women’s platform competition will begin at 4:30 p.m.
