LEXINGTON, Ky. – – The LSU men and women swimming and diving teams both lost to the Kentucky Wildcats in the last event of their meet Friday evening. The No. 25 Lady Tigers needed to place second and third in the final relay to escape with the victory, but the 21st ranked Wildcats finished first and second in the 200-yard freestyle to squeak by LSU 124-118.
The 18th ranked Tigers were in the same situation on the men’s side. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, LSU need to finish either first and second or first and third to pick up the win.
The team of junior captain Ken Kuhn, freshman Martin Latz, sophomore Carlton Greer, and All-American Rodrigo Castro swam a time of 1:22.91, but Kentucky’s relay team was victorious in 1:22.51. The Tigers placed first and third in the race and fell to the Wildcats in a barnburner 122-121.
“It was a gut-wrenching meet for us today,” said head coach Rick Meador. “Both of our teams had a shot to win in the final relays, but Kentucky swam really well tonight and came through in the end. Our girls did an outstanding job against the higher ranked Lady Wildcats, but I think that the men came out flat today. We’re missing one of our best men swimmers in Mattias Ohlin who is back home practicing for the 2000 Olympics, but we have to learn how to win the big meets without him.”
The losses are the first for either LSU team this season. The Tigers drop to 4-1 on the year and 1-1 in the SEC, while the Lady Tigers still possess one of the better records in the league with a 5-1, 2-1 mark.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers both jumped to an early lead in the meet as they each won their opening relay races. In the 200-yard medley it was LSU’s team of Ali Petersen, Cissy Schepens, Candace Nethercott, and Mandy Leach who placed first with an outstanding time of 1:47.52.
LSU junior Jeff Maynor had one of his better meets of the season as he finished first in the 100-yard butterfly. He swam his way to victory with a time of 51.03, while teammate Tommy Starkweather came in second in 51.06 seconds.
Also victorious for the Tigers were seniors Neal Satterly and Corey Fox, sophomore Rodrigo Castro, and freshman Steve Gluck. Satterly blew by the competition in the 100-yard backstroke event (50.82), while Fox placed first in 1-meter diving (304.03), and Gluck was the first to finish in the 100-yard breastroke (58.11).
Castro, who just returned from his hometown of Belo Horizonte, Brazil earlier in the week after having his tonsils removed, showed signs of his All-American form in the 500-free by finishing first with a time of 4:13.77.
On the women’s side, LSU’s sophomore phenom Mandy Leach topped Kentucky’s Carolyn Rader in the 200-yard freestyle. She won the event in 1:50.09. Then the Lady Tiger duo of freshman Suzie Flook and sophomore Nethercott placed first and second in 100-fly with times of 56.58 and 56.79 respectively.
Also victorious for the LSU women were Petersen, the outstanding sophomore from Omaha, Nebraska, Cissy Schepens, and divers Jamie Watkins and Ashley Culpepper.
The Lady Tigers swept the diving events on the day as Watkins won the 1-meter event (287.40) and Culpepper won the 3-meter (297.96). Both of the LSU swimming and diving teams will travel to Dayton, Ohio Saturday to take on Wright State in a non-conference battle. The meet will begin at 11 a.m. The agate follows:
Womens Results
UK 124, LSU 118
200 Medley Relay 1. LSU-A 1:47.92 2. UK-A 1:48.43 3. LSU-B 1:50.73 4. UK-B 1:52.26 1000 Freestyle 1. Melissa Olson UK 10:12.80 2. Melissa Knox LSU 10:15.53 3. Debra Hinsley UK 10:33.37 5. Emily Johnston UK 10:48.88
200 Freestyle 1. Mandy Leach LSU 1:50.09 2. Carolyn Rader UK 1:50.89 3. Kelley Miller UK 1:53.26 5. Jaime Siegele UK 1:55.17 6. Tracy Sullivan UK 1:56.05
50 Freestyle 1. Annabel Kosten UK 23.55 2. Julie Hughes LSU 24.30 3. Lisa Beavers UK 24.46 5. Jenny Priester UK 24.71 7. Kelly Neal UK 25.93 EX. Michelle Minzetta UK 25.88
200 Individual Medley 1. Melissa Olson UK 2:05.03 2. Lindsey Mooney LSU 2:09.14 3. Taryn Kannegeisser UK 2:09.16 5. Jen Clifford UK 2:12.51
1-Meter Diving 1. Jamie Watkins LSU 287.40 2. Ashley Culpepper LSU 262.20 3. Sarah Fields UK 250.05 5. Kelli Frost UK 240.98 6. Carrie Knoeber UK 239.78 7. Michelle Glowatch UK 229.65
100 Butterfly 1. Suzanna Flook LSU 56.58 2. Candice Nethercott LSU 56.79 3. Carolyn Rader UK 56.91 4. Emily Buske UK 59.00 5. Debra Hinsley UK 59.54 8. Emily Johnston UK 1:01.73
100 Freestyle 1. Annabel Kosten UK 50.79 2. Jaime Siegele UK 52.12 3. Julie Hughes LSU 53.09 4. Sarah Hoppe UK 53.44 7. Michelle Inzetta UK 55.56
100 Backstroke 1. Ali Peterson LSU 57.92 2. Melissa Olson UK 58.06 3. Taryn Kannegeisser UK 58.93 4. Sarah Carter UK 59.69 8. Kelly Neal UK 1:03.61
500 Freestyle 1. Carolyn Rader UK 4:56.15 2. Mandy Leach LSU 4:58.62 3. Kelley Miller UK 5:03.96 5. Tracy Sullivan UK 5:09.87
3-Meter Diving 1. Ashley Culpepper LSU 297.98 2. Jaime Watkins LSU 297.60 3. Kelli Frost UK 285.00 4. Carrie Knoeber UK 277.56 6. Sarah Fields UK 246.98 7. Michelle Glowatch UK 237.45
100 Breaststroke 1. Cissy Schephens LSU 1:05.89 2. Jen Clifford UK 1:06.07 3. Chere Richards LSU 1:09.03 4. Sarah Carter UK 1:10.38 EX. Michelle Inzetta UK 1:13.27
200 Freestyle Relay 1. UK-A (Kosten, Siegele, Priester, Beavers) 1:34.72 2. UK-B (Hoppe, Sullivan, Buske, Miller) 1:38.36 3. LSU-A 1:38.55
Mens Results
UK 122, LSU 121
200 Medley Relay 1. LSU-A 1:33.37, 2. UK-A (Palmer, Waldrop, Clement, Watkins) 1:34.92, 3. LSU-B 1:35.57, 4. UK-B (Nath, Cuker, Nilson, Perkins) 1:38.44 1000 Freestyle 1. David Tweedie UK 9:35.50 2. David Kunedig UK 9:36.99 3. Dennis Rowe LSU 9:44.72 5. Cody Nath LSU 9:55.97
200 Freestyle 1. Macon White UK 1:39.17 2. Rodrigo Castro LSU 1:39.57 3. Aaron Workman UK 1:41.62 6. Matt Nilson UK 1:47.96
50 Freestyle 1. Shaun Zitani UK 20.34 2. Ken Kuhn LSU 20.35 3. Roger Watkins UK 21.33 7. Derek Perkins UK 22.39 8. Josh Waldrop UK 22.44
200 Individual Medley 1. Eddie Clement UK 1:54.25 2. Steve Gluck LSU 1:54.28 3. Aaron Cuker UK 1:56.51
1-Meter Diving 1. Corey Fox LSU 308.03 2. Erik Petursson LSU 283.43 3. Clayton Moss UK 276.75 4. Aaron Kirkpatrick UK 267.00
100 Butterfly 1. Jeff Maynor LSU 51.03 2. Tommy Starkweather LSU 51.06 3. Brett Palmer UK 51.59 4. Eddie Clement UK 51.93 6. Derek Perkins UK 55.03
100 Freestyle 1. Shaun Zitani UK 45.07 2. Ken Kuhn LSU 45.51 3. Aaron Workman UK 46.22
100 Backstroke 1. Neal Satterly LSU 50.82 2. B.J. Alvarez LSU 52.66 3. Cody Nath UK 53.32 5. Brett Palmer UK 56.81 500 Freestyle 1. Rodrigo Castro LSU 4:33.77 2. Macon White UK 4:34.57 3. David Tweedie UK 4:39.43 4. David Kuendig UK 4:40.00
3-Meter Diving 1. Clayton Moss UK 377.40 2. Corey Fox LSU 331.05 3. Aaron Kirkpatrick UK 313.20
100 Breaststroke 1. Steve Gluck LSU 58.11 2. Josh Waldrop UK 58.61 3. Aaron Cuker UK 58.88 4. Roger Watkins UK 59.30
200 Freestyle Relay 1. UK-A (Zitani, Tweedie, White, Workman) 1:22.52 2. LSU-A 1:22.91