Jan. 26, 2010

COLUMBIA, S.C. – After a record-breaking performance in Saturday’s dual meet victory over Vanderbilt and UNC Wilmington, South Carolina junior diver Taryn Zack was named the Southeastern Conference Diver of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday.

Zack, a native of Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada, put together one of the best overall performances of her career in surpassing the marks of Gamecock great and current assistant coach Allison Brennan in Saturday’s meet against UNC Wilmington and Vanderbilt. Zack scored a 357.75 in 1-meter diving to break Brennan’s mark of 348.75, set in 2006. Later in the meet, she posted a 389.03 on the 3-meter board, outpacing Brennan’s mark of 385.20 and winning by 100 points over her next-closest competitor. Both marks easily rank as the top scores in the Southeastern Conference this season.

This marks the first SEC weekly honor for Zack this season and the fourth in her career. She joins fellow diver Courtney Forcucci and freshman swimmer Michael Flach as other Gamecock athletes to earn the league’s weekly award during the 2009-10 season. On Monday, the junior was named South Carolina’s AgSouth Athlete of the Week.

Zack’s next competition with the Gamecocks will be at the SEC Championships, which run Feb. 17-20 in Athens, Ga. She will not compete with the team this weekend against Georgia and Alabama as the Canadian will compete for her home country’s national championship at the Diving Plongeon Canada Senior Nationals in Toronto.