March 12, 2010

ATLANTA – South Carolina divers Taryn Zack and Rylan Ridenour advanced to finals in their respective events on the first day of NCAA Zone B Diving on Friday at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. Zack finished fifth in the women’s 1-meter final while Ridenour was 13th in the men’s 3-meter final.

Zack, a junior from Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada, posted a 12-dive score of 556.00 to finish fifth in the 1-meter final. She was the third qualifier in the prelims with a score of 291.55, but missed on her third dive in the final to drop to fifth place with a six-dive total of 264.45. Zack, who finished second in this event last year, can improve her chances at qualifying for the NCAA Championships with a strong finish in tomorrow’s 3-meter final.

Ridenour, a freshman from Lebanon, Ind., was the eighth qualifier in 3-meter preliminaries despite a miss on his third dive, a reverse 2.5 somersault, and headed to the final with a score of 334.45. He posted good numbers throughout the final and finished 13th overall with a score of 629.35.

Junior Allison Barr just missed the women’s 1-meter final with a 21st-place showing, scoring 226.20 in the preliminaries. Sarah Deuell finished 33rd with a 162.55. In the men’s 3-meter prelims, freshman Nikolas Sachs finished 27th with a 272.55, and sophomore Ryan Kuser was 30th with a score of 250.45.

Women’s 3-meter preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. Saturday with finals to follow immediately thereafter. Men’s 1-meter prelims are tentatively set for a 3:30 p.m. Fans can follow live results through divemeets.com.