March 11, 2013

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The South Carolina diving team was unable to advance a diver to the finals at the NCAA Zone B Championships on Monday at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.

The Gamecocks had to finish in the top 18 of each event to make the finals. The Carolina men had two divers miss out by less than six points in the one-meter springboard preliminary, while the women had one diver come up 2.4 points short of advancing to the three-meter springboard finals.

“Our team really struggled today,” South Carolina diving coach Todd Sherritt said. “It was very similar to the first day at the SEC Championships. We need to work on being more aggressive on the first day. Everyone has their stronger events tomorrow, and we should have a much better day.”

In the men’s one-meter springboard preliminary, senior Rylan Ridenour and sophomore Cole Miller narrowly missed qualifying for the finals. Ridenour finished 19th with a score of 273.95, which was just 3.35 points shy of making the top 18. Miller came up 5.45 points short as he placed 21st with a total of 271.85. Junior Andrew Helmich also competed in the event and finished 28th with a score of 251.75.

On the women’s three-meter board, sophomore Patricia Kranz led the way with a 22nd-place finish. Kranz recorded a score of 268.80, which was 2.4 points away from finishing in the top 18. Senior Chay Malvasio finished 24th with a score of 260.10, and freshman Lauren Lamendola claimed 25th with a score of 258.60.

The Gamecocks will be back in action on Tuesday in the women’s one-meter preliminary and the men’s three-meter preliminary. Competition begins at 11 a.m. Live video will be available here, and live results will be available here.