BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Friday’s double-dual meet versus Wright State and Houston to open the 2000-01 season.
“Both teams did very well today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Cavana. “The men came out and competed hard because they knew that this was a vital meet for them. I’ll use today’s times to decide which 20 guys are going to travel this season. The women also did a great job of competing and starting the season with two strong wins.”
The LSU women defeated both Wright State and Houston to open the season with at least a 2-0 record for the sixth-consecutive season. The Lady Tigers were victorious over Wright State, 139-96, and Houston, 133-94.
The Tigers won their first double-dual meet of the season for the 10th-straight year. The last time that the LSU men’s team was defeated in the opening meet of the season was in 1990. The Tigers fell to Florida State, 144-98, on the road in Tallahassee, Fla.
On Friday, the LSU men triumphed over the Wright State Raiders, 141-94. Last season the Tigers defeated the Raiders, 120-75. LSU leads the all-time series 6-0.
The leading Lady Tiger performers in the meet were Julie Hughes, Mandy Leach, Donna Leslie, Lindsey Mooney, Barb Gorst, and Michelle Coryell.
Hughes, a sophomore from Zachary, finished first in both the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events. In the 50-yard freestyle she ended in 24.38, and afterwards posted a time of 53.24 in the 100-yard competition.
The 2000 Olympian and finalist in the 200-meter freestyle event, Leach, was also victorious in two events on Friday. She dominated the field in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.55) and the 100-backstroke (58.03).
Leslie and Mooney won their respective events in the 1000-yard freestyle and the 200-individual medley, while Gorst and Coryell dominated the diving events for the Lady Tigers. Gorst placed first in the 1-meter competition and Coryell won the 3-meter springboard event.
“Julie, Mandy, Lindsey, and the divers did an awesome job today,” Cavana said. “The opening meet is kind of a slow meet, but we came out very well in the end.”
The men’s swimming and diving team was led to victory by Buzz Kuhn, Martin Latz, Ross Buffington, Nick Tarantino, Evan Martinec, Steve Gluck, Erik Petursson, and Corey Fox.
LSU’s senior freestyler, Ken “Buzz” Kuhn, placed first in both the 50 and 100-yard freestyle events with times of 20.49 and 45.32. Latz took the 200-freestyle with a time of 1:42.25.
The Tigers’ talented bunch of freshmen swimmers collected three wins for LSU before the beginning of exhibition in Friday’s meet. The Washington state natives, Buffington and Martinec, were victorious in their respective races in the 1000-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly competition.
Fellow freshman, Nick Tarantino, placed first in the 100-yard backstroke event by edging out teammate B.J. Alvarez with a time of 51.70. Alvarez finished second with a 52.58. Gluck won the 200-yard individual medley competition with a time of 1:56.66.
“Ross came through with a great performance, as did Evan, Chris Stanczyk, Nick, and Donna,” Cavana said. “They are all extremely talented freshman and this class is going to go a long way in the future.”
In the diving competition, LSU’s Petursson and Fox finished first and second on each board. Petursson won the 1-meter event while Fox was victorious in the 3-meter competition.
The LSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will next be in action Saturday, October 28, on the road versus the University of Louisiana at Monroe at 11 a.m.