Feb. 7, 2011

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

IOWA CITY, Iowa – South Carolina assistant diving coach Allison Brennan and junior diver Courtney Forcucci concluded a successful week at the USA Diving Winter National Championships on Sunday in the 3-meter springboard final.

Brennan earned an eighth-place finish and Forcucci finished 12th after both qualified for the finals on Friday. Brennan posted a five-dive score of 319.15 and Forcucci scored a 277.60. Cassidy Krug, a former Stanford diver and the 2007 NCAA Champion, tied 2008 Olympian Christina Loukas for the championship with a 339.60.

South Carolina head diving coach Todd Sherritt was quite pleased with his team’s performance during the week at the Campus Wellness and Recreation Center at the University of Iowa.

“It was really a phenomenal week,” Sherritt said. “I can’t remember the last time we had two athletes in the finals, it’s been a long time since we’ve done that. So I was really pleased with the way things went.”

Both Forcucci and Brennan are now qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials by virtue of advancing to the finals at this week’s Winter Nationals. That event will take place June 18-24, 2012, in Federal Way, Wash., in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

“Having Courtney qualified for the Trials this early is really great,” Sherritt said. “With so much time to prepare, we can now focus on fine-tuning her dives to get to that elite level. But it’s very encouraging to see her competing at a high level with the conference meet coming up this week. I think she’s got a chance to do some really big things this week.”

The Gamecock divers will now turn their attention to the SEC Diving Championships, which run Friday through Sunday (Feb. 11-13) in Gainesville, Fla.