Oct. 28, 2008

COLUMBIA – Make it two weeks in a row for South Carolina divers as freshman Helen Alvey and senior Corry Christian earned the male and female SEC Diver of the Week awards, respectively, after their performances in Friday’s dual meet with Virginia.

Alvey, a freshman from Marietta, Ga., won the one-meter event with a score of 306.60, the best by a Carolina diver this season and also the top score in the SEC thus far. She also took a fourth-place finish in the three-meter event, and has already earned NCAA Zone qualifying scores only two meets into her collegiate career.

Christian came up with a huge 79-point dive in his sixth and final attempt to claim the one-meter victory with an NCAA Zone qualifying score of 308.32. The senior from Jacksonville, Fla., also set a personal record with his score of 342.07 in the three-meter event, where he also claimed first place as South Carolina divers swept all four events against the Cavaliers.

It was the second week in a row for a Gamecock diver to earn the SEC’s weekly honor. Sophomore Taryn Zack was the SEC’s Diver of the Week last week.

Christian, Alvey and the rest of the Gamecock swimming & diving squad will be back in action Friday as archrival Clemson visits the Carolina Natatorium for a high-intensity dual meet. One-meter diving gets underway at 4 p.m. with the rest of the meet slated for a 5 p.m. start.