BATON ROUGE — Two members of the LSU swimming team, junior Laura Jo Leininger and sophomore Myles Jaynes, were named the “Louisiana State Swimmers of the Year” by the Senior United States Swimming Age-Group Coaches, head coach Jeff Cavana announced on Friday.
Leininger, a native of Mandeville, La., and Jaynes, of Kenner, La., both earned the honor based on their performance from Sept. 2001 to Aug. 2002. The two were chosen out of all swimmers competing at the senior level in the state.
Leininger was chosen as a team captain for the LSU squad earlier in the week and also was presented the “Coaches Award” at the team banquet last May. She finished ninth in the consolation final of the 100-yard butterfly at the 2002 Southeastern Conference Championships with a time of 54.87, the second-fastest time in that event in school history.
Jaynes swam in the United States Swimming Association’s Open-Water Competition last month in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. He swam in the 5-kilometer event and finished second out of 85 competitors with a time of 1:03.41.
“This is really a tremendous honor for both Laura Jo and Myles to receive,” said Cavana. “I am happy for them to get this recognition for the great year both have had.”
LSU will open its 2002-03 schedule on Oct. 4 with the annual Purple-Gold Intrasquad at the LSU Natatorium and will then host Auburn the following day to open the regular season.