TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — LSU’s Jaime Watkins claimed the Southeastern Conference championship title in the 10-meter platform competition on Saturday, as the Lady Tiger divers dominated the event in the final day of the SEC Championships here in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“Once again our divers turned in an outstanding performance today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Cavana. “Scott (Reich) is definitely one of the best diving coaches in the nation and he has done an awesome job with this group of divers. All of our divers performed well today and Mandy (Leach) did a fantastic job in the 100-yard freestyle event. Ross (Buffington) was awesome in the 1650 competition for the men’s team.”
In the women’s platform diving competition, the Lady Tigers recorded four of the top-eight spots in the event. LSU’s Watkins obliterated the rest of the field with a final score of 459.30 to take the title. Tennessee’s Lizzy Flint finished in second place with 447.55 points.
Lady Tiger divers then notched the third, fifth, and eighth-place positions in the competition. Ashley Culpepper, LSU’s returning National Champion in the 3-meter springboard event, ended in third place after accumulating 442.85 total points. Michelle Coryell and Barb Gorst finished in the fifth and eighth-place spots, respectively, while Coryell broke the 400-point plateau with a final score of 400.35 and Gorst ended at 361.65.
LSU’s Mandy Leach set a second LSU-school record of the weekend on Saturday, as she recorded a time of 49.82 in the 100-yard freestyle competition. She broke former LSU great Heather Hageman’s time of 50.25 in the event which was set in the 1991 SEC Championship meet. Leach’s swim was good enough to take the sixth-place finish in the event.
On the men’s side of the competition, LSU freshman Ross Buffington also shattered an ancient school record on Saturday. Buffington swam a time of 15:31.06 in the 1650-yard freestyle event to break Bobby Koom’s previous-record time of 15:34.03. Koom set the record in 1990.