COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The LSU men’s swimming and diving team ended the second day of the 2001 NCAA championships in 20th-place on Saturday, as the Tigers finished among the nation’s elite in both the diving and relay competitions.
“Once again, I think that our guys did a very solid day of performing today,” said LSU head coach Jeff Cavana. “The competition here is unreal, and every one of our guys is hanging tough in their events. The divers did another fine job in the 3-meter competition and Evan (Martinec) made it to the finals in the 100-yard backstroke. I was also pleased with where our 200-medley relay team finished.”
LSU’s Evan Martinec, a freshman from Tacoma, Washington, recorded a 13th-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke competition on Friday, as he swam a time of 48.36 to end fifth in the consolation final. In the opening day of the NCAA championships, Martinec set a school record in his leg of the 400-yard individual medley relay event by posting a time of 47.91.
In the 200-yard individual medley relay event, the Tigers’ top-relay team comprised of Steve Gluck, Ken “Buzz” Kuhn, Matt Elder and Martinec ended the competition in 14th-place with a time of 1:28.92. Texas’ team of Matt Ulrickson, Brendan Hansen, Nate Dusing and Leffie Crawford won the event by finishing in 1:25.26. The time marked a new NCAA record, American record and U.S. Open record.
The LSU divers also turned in impressive performances on Friday. Corey Fox, the Tigers’ talented senior from Carson City, Nevada, earned a 10th-place finish in the 3-meter diving competition with a total score of 516.95.
LSU’s Erik Petursson and Kyle VanArsdall ended the event in 17th and 23rd-place finishes, respectfully.
“Each one of the divers did a solid job today,” said LSU diving coach Scott Reich. “Corey had a fantastic performance by ending up in the top 10, while Corey and Kyle both did good jobs as well. They just need to get focused on tomorrow’s 10-meter platform event, where I think that they will do even better.”
The 2001 NCAA men’s swimming and diving championships will resume on Saturday at noon with the preliminaries. The final rounds are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. here in the Student Rec Center on the campus of Texas A&M University.