Feb. 15, 2012

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — South Carolina placed two divers in the finals on Wednesday afternoon to open competition at the 2012 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center at the University of Tennessee.

Senior Courtney Forcucci finished third in the women’s one-meter springboard preliminaries with a score of 308.05, while freshman Cole Miller had a stellar debut at the SEC Championships as he advanced to the men’s three-meter finals by finishing 7th in the preliminaries with a score of 356.95. Forcucci advances to the finals for the second straight year. The Fort Mill, S.C., native finished fourth on the one-meter board at last year’s SEC Championships.

“If (Forcucci) does her optimal list, I think we can see her in the winner’s circle, but she’ll have to pull it off,” South Carolina diving coach Todd Sherritt said. “As for Cole, to be top eight here as a freshman is extremely hard. I am overwhelmingly pleased. He literally hit every objective I gave him. He hit all his moves. He’s had a great year so far. He just seems to get better and better.”

Freshman Patricia Kranz was less than 11 points away from advancing as she finished 14th with a score of 265.55.

“I was very happy with Patricia Kranz,” Sherritt said. “She almost made it to the finals. To finish Top 16 here is tremendous.”

Junior Chay Malvasio was 21st (226.25), while freshman Kasey Catalfomo finished 25th (206.95).

Sophomore Andrew Helmich posted a score of 267.25 in the men’s three-meter competition to finish 25th.

The women’s one-meter diving finals will begin at 6 tonight, followed by the 200 medley relay, the men’s three-meter diving finals and the 800 freestyle relay. Live video and live results will be available at utsports.com.