March 9, 2011
By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director
ATHENS, Ga. – South Carolina will send five divers to the NCAA Zone B Diving Regional as a berth in the 2011 NCAA Championships is on the line this week at the Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia.
A total of 44 women’s divers and 43 men’s divers will compete Thursday-Saturday for nine spots each in the upcoming NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships. A berth in the championships will be awarded based on a priority system related to the individual finishes in each event. A finish in the top two spots on platform or the top three spots in the 1- or 3-meter events will guarantee a berth in the championships; however, lower finishes could also qualify based on the number of different individuals earning top finishes.
All four Gamecock women’s divers will make the trip to Athens. Senior Taryn Zack leads the Carolina contingent, coming off her second SEC Championship performance in the 1-meter event in Gainesville, Fla., last month. A three-time All-American, Zack has qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of her three seasons at South Carolina, advancing to the finals in the 1-meter competition last year and earning a finals berth on both the 1- and 3-meter boards as a freshman in 2008. As a sophomore, Zack set the school record for a 12-dive score as she posted a 584.40 on the 1-meter board at the NCAA Zone B meet in Knoxville, Tenn.
Junior Courtney Forcucci also enters the Zone meet with a wealth of experience at this level. A transfer from Houston prior to the 2009-10 season, Forcucci was an All-American at the 2008 NCAA Championships as she finished 15th in the platform event. That same year, she was runner-up at the NCAA Zone D meet with a 566.25 on the 3-meter board. She also advanced from the Zone meet in 2009, finishing in the top 10 in all three events to advance to that year’s NCAA Championships. Forcucci advanced to the finals in 1-meter diving at last month’s SEC Championships and just missed the finals with a ninth-place finish on the platform.
Senior Allison Barr is entered in all three events for the first time this season. She returned to competition at the SEC Championships after missing the second half of the regular season because of injuries suffered during a training mishap in January. Last year, she advanced to the finals in both the platform and 3-meter events at the NCAA Zone B meet. Sophomore Chay Malvasio, a transfer from North Carolina, makes her second appearance at Zones. She scored for Carolina on the platform event at the SEC Championships and has continued to show improvement as the season has progressed.
On the men’s side, sophomore Rylan Ridenour will be Carolina’s lone representative in Athens. Ridenour is seeking his first NCAA Championships berth after advancing to the finals on the 3-meter board at last year’s meet in Atlanta, scoring a 629.35 to finish 13th.
The meet gets underway with men’s 1-meter diving and women’s 3-meter diving on Thursday. Men’s prelims begin at 11 a.m. with finals set for approximately 1:15 p.m. The women’s preliminaries will begin at 3:30 p.m. with finals set for a 5:45 p.m. start. A full meet schedule is available below, and live results will be available via divemeets.com.
NCAA ZONE B DIVING – MEET SCHEDULE
Thursday, March 10
11 a.m. – Men’s 1-meter prelims
1:15 p.m. – Men’s 1-meter finals
3:30 p.m. – Women’s 3-meter prelims
5:45 p.m. – Women’s 3-meter finals
Friday, March 11
11 a.m. – Women’s 1-meter prelims
1:15 p.m. – Women’s 1-meter finals
3:30 p.m. – Men’s 1-meter prelims
5:45 p.m. – Men’s 1-meter finals
Saturday, March 12
10:30 a.m. – Women’s platform prelims
12:15 p.m. – Women’s platform finals
3:30 p.m. – Men’s platform prelims
5:30 p.m. – Men’s platform finals
