COLLEGE STATION, Texas – – The LSU swimming and diving teams put up a valiant effort versus both of the nationally ranked Texas A&M squads Friday afternoon in College Station, Texas, but the Aggies won both competitions against the Tigers.
The 24th ranked Lady Tigers dropped to 6-2 overall as the No. 22 Aggies women’s team improved to 5-1 with the 129-106 victory.
Meanwhile, the No. 18 LSU men’s team lost its second close meet of the season, 129-114. Last week, the Tigers fell at Kentucky by one point. The 15th ranked Texas A&M squad improved to 7-1 on the season, while the Tigers dropped to 5-2.
“It was a tough loss for our teams today,” said head coach Rick Meador. “Texas A&M has one of the best teams that we’ll play out of conference this year, and they performed better than we did today.”
Lady Tiger sophomore Mandy Leach finished first in two events on the day. She won both the 200-yard freestyle competition with a time of 1:49.31 and the 500-yard freestyle by swimming a 4:58.73.
The LSU diving team was victorious in all four diving events during the meet. In the women’s 1-meter competition, the Lady Tigers swept the event as sophomore Jamie Watkins won with a score of 303.74. Gretchen Mury and Ashley Culpepper placed second and third respectively.
Culpepper took first place in the women’s 3-meter diving event with a final score of 304.87. Watkins, finished second in the competition with 296.25.
LSU Tiger divers Erik Peturrson and Corey Fox each won a diving event in the meet. Peturrson was victorious in the 1-meter competition (308.32), while Fox barely beat out Texas A&M’s Adam Morgan to lead all scorers in the 3-meter event (313.95). Morgan finished in second with a score of 313.42.
LSU’s sophomore All-American swimmer, Rodrigo Castro, placed first in two events against Texas A&M. Castro won the 200 and 500-yard freestyle competitions with times of 1:39.55 in the 200, and 4:33.17 in the 500.
“Rodrigo did an excellent job out there today,” Meador said. “He swam very well, and so did the other guys, but we just didn’t have enough to win.”
Freshman Suzie Flook and sophomore Cissy Schepens were the other Lady Tigers to finish in first place for LSU. Flook won the 200-yard butterfly event in 2:00.81, while Schepens was victorious in the 200-yard breaststoke competition. Schepens finished the race in 2:18.46.
The LSU Tiger swimmers of Tommy Starkweather and freshman Steve Gluck each won an event on the day. Starkweather was victorious in the 200-butterfly event (1:52.92), and Gluck finished first in the 200-yard breaststroke (2:04.89).
The Lady Tigers travel to Houston to take on the Rice Owls Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., while the Tigers will next be in action February 5 against Florida State in the LSU Natatorium. The meet between the LSU Tigers and the Florida State Seminoles will begin at 11 a.m.