BATON ROUGE – – The LSU swimming and diving team signed four extremely talented high school recruits this week who will join the team in the fall of 2000. The signees include Donna Leslie from Kwazula Natal, South Africa, Ross Buffington from Seattle, Washington, Evan Martinec from Tacoma, Washington, and Laura Jo Leininger from Madisonville, Louisiana.
“We’re really fortunate to have these young people sign with our team,” said head coach Rick Meador. “They are some of the best swimmers in the 2000 graduating class, and they definitely have the talent to make a positive impact on our team when they get here.”
Leslie, who will graduate from South Africa’s St. Mary’s Diocesan School in the spring, holds some of the fastest times in the country in both the 400-yard and the 800-yard freestyle events. In the 400-free her top time is 4:18.00, while in the 800-free her best time is an impressive 8:52.00.
“Donna (Leslie) has great range in her freestyle, and also possesses incredible versatility in the number of events that she is able to swim,” said Meador. “She is very talented and will be a great contributor in the relays for us.”
Buffington and Martinec are two of the top-5 swimmers in the nation in each of the events that they swim. Buffington attends O’Dea High School in Seattle, Washington where he holds the fourth-fastest time in the nation in the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:28.69.
“Ross (Buffington) is the best distance swimmer coming out of high school this year,” said Meador. “He’s proving that by consistently swimming times that are in the top-5 in the nation.”
Another Washington native, Evan Martinec, who will graduate from Woodrow Wilson High School in the spring has won a number of awards in his three-years of high school. He currently holds the 2nd-fastest time in the nation in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 48.97, and he is also the 3rd ranked swimmer in the country in the 100-yard butterfly with a 49.43.
“He (Martinec) is definitely one of the top U.S. prospects that we have ever signed,” said Meador. “He is going to have an immediate impact on the team as a freshman.”
Leininger, the only recruit signed by LSU this week from the state of Louisiana, chose to stay at home and be a Lady Tiger after looking into Texas A&M, TCU, and SMU. She currently holds the fastest time in the state in the butterfly and has great potential to be a team leader in the intermedley events.
With the Tigers current record of 2-0, 1-0, and the Lady Tigers record of 4-0, 2-0, the future looks bright, but when four top-notch recruits sign with the team, the future looks even brighter.