March 9, 2014
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina will have five divers competing this week in the NCAA Zone B Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, N.C. The Gamecocks will dive Monday through Wednesday against divers from across the southeast region as they look to qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships later this month.
“Our training has been really good since we’ve been here,” South Carolina diving coach Todd Sherritt said. “This our most difficult meet we have all year. Everyone seems to handling the pressure well at this point. If we perform well here, we will advance to the NCAA championships. Our team has had a great season and a strong conference finish. They have to sure up the things that did not go right at conference, but if we can accomplish that, and dive at the same level as we did at conference, then we will be there.”
Senior Andrew Helmich, junior Cole Miller and freshman Jordan Gotro are set to dive for the Gamecock men, and junior Patricia Kranz and sophomore Lauren Lamendola will compete for the Carolina women.
Miller holds the 12-dive school records in both the 3-meter springboard and on the platform. The native of Regina, Saskatchewan set the 3-meer record with 705.50 points last year at the Zone B championships. Miller has been the Gamecocks top diver this season, earning spots in the finals at the SEC Championships on both the 1-meter (8th) and 3-meter (7th) boards, while finishing 10th on the platform.
Gotro also had an impressive showing at the conference meet, placing in the top 15 in all three events, and earning his highest finish on the 1-meter as he came in 10th. Helmich looks to finish his career with a strong showing after scoring in all three events at the SEC Championships.
On the women’s side, Kranz has been the Gamecocks top diver. The native of Davie, Fla., finished ninth on the 3-meter board at the SEC Championships before earning a spot in the finals on the platform. She earned her spot in the finals with a school record point total of 266.45 in the prelims. Heading into the championships, Kranz had one of the top scores on the 3-meter, while Lamedola had recorded one of the top scores on the 1-meter.
The meet gets underway on Monday at 11 a.m. ET with the women’s one-meter springboard preliminary. Live results will be available here.
