Nov. 2, 2010

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina senior Taryn Zack and sophomore Rylan Ridenour were named the Southeastern Conference’s Divers of the Week, the SEC office announced Tuesday.

Zack, a native of Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada, earned SEC Female Diver of the Week honors for the first time this season and the seventh time of her Carolina career. On Friday, Zack won the 1-meter competition with a score of 313.73, outpacing teammate Courtney Forcucci – the SEC Diver of the Week two weeks ago – by 15 points to win her first competition of the year. Her score currently ranks as the best 1-meter diving score so far this year in the SEC. Zack then turned in a second-place performance on the 3-meter board, posting a 360.75 – the third-best score in the SEC this year – to fall just seven points short of Forcucci.

Ridenour earned his second straight SEC Male Diver of the Week honor as he remained undefeated in four events this season. Against Clemson, the native of Lebanon, Ind., came within mere inches of the South Carolina school record in 3-meter diving as he scored 407.17 to win by a whopping 88 points. He fell just 0.23 points short of Andy Bradley’s school record of 407.40 with six stellar dives from the high board. In the 1-meter event, he posted a 312.30 to earn another easy victory, outpacing his nearest competitor by 74 points. Ridenour’s 3-meter score ranks at the top of the SEC so far this year, and his 1-meter score rates sixth in the league.

Other SEC honorees this week included Elizabeth Beisel (female freshman) and Conor Dwyer (male swimmer) of Florida and Melanie Margalis (female swimmer) and Will Freeman (male freshman) of Georgia.

The Gamecocks will travel to Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday for a 2 p.m. meet against the Arkansas Razorbacks (women only) and the Missouri Tigers (both teams).