AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU swimming and diving teams will compete in the 2003 Southeastern Conference Championships from Feb. 19-22 in Auburn, Ala.
The championships will be held at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center on the University of Auburn’s campus. It marks the first time since 2000 that Auburn has hosted the prestigious event. The meet begins with preliminaries of the men’s 1-meter diving competition at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. Events included on the first day of competition are the men’s 1-meter and women’s 3-meter diving prelims and finals, and both the 200-yard medley relay and 800-yard freestyle relay.
Preliminaries of all events will begin at either 10 or 10:30 a.m. each day of competition, while the finals will start at 6 or 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the final day of competition, will feature 12 events with preliminaries and finals in each of the events. There is a new format for the diving competition this season, as not all diving events will be completed in three first three days of the meet as was the case a year ago. Last season the diving portion of the championships was over by the third day of competition, but this season the prelims and finals of both platform competitions will be held on Saturday, the final day of the meet.
LSU will attempt to have an SEC diving champion for the fourth-consecutive year. Ashley Culpepper (2000), Jamie Watkins (2001), and Barb Gorst (2002) have each been crowned champions the last three seasons for the Lady Tigers. Gorst, a 2002 All-American, and sophomore Jessica Wantz will attempt to continue that trend this season as each will compete in both the 1- and 3-meter competitions and Gorst will compete in the platform. Gorst was the platform champ last season in Fayetteville, Ark., leading the Lady Tigers to a sweep in the event as Gorst, Holly Winters, and Watkins placed first through third.
Senior Kyle Van Arsdall, making his fourth-straight appearance at SEC’s, will compete in all three diving events. Van Arsdall, the lone male diver on LSU’s squad, placed in the top 16 in all three events last season. Junior All-American Stephanie Smith is seeded second overall in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:47.75 which she swam at the 2002 Nike Cup Invitational. Smith placed seventh in the 500 free a year ago at the championships. She is also the fourth seed in the 1650-yard freestyle, an event in which she placed seventh a year ago. Four other Lady Tigers will swim in the 500-freestyle. Junior Matt Rucker is seeded 11th in the 50-yard freestyle and ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke. Rucker swam in three events at the SEC’s last season. Eleven Tigers will swim in the 50 free.
Junior All-American Evan Martinec and senior Mike Jotautas are seeded fourth and fifth in the 100-yard butterfly and Neil Lowe and Jared Strecker are 15th and 16th. Junior Laura Jo Leininger is seeded fourth in the 100-fly. She finished ninth in the finals of the event last season. Sophomore Francisco Paez and junior Chris Stanczyk are each seeded in the top 20 in the 200- and 100-yard freestyle.
Martinec, fourth in the 100-yard backstroke at last season’s SEC’s, is the top-seeded swimmer in the event this season with a time of 47.76, which is also the sixth fastest time in the nation this season.
Six true freshman will make their debut this week for LSU in Auburn and red shirt freshmen Heath Brand, Josh Terrell, and sophomore Ryan Cochran will also be competing at the SEC’s for the first time.
“This is always one of the best meets of the year in the country and it is one we look forward to all season,” said LSU head coach Jeff Cavana. “It is a meet we would obviously like to win but also want to have several of our swimmers pick up career-best times and also attempt to qualify for the NCAA’s if they have not previously done that,” Cavana said.
“It is important that we stay focused in this big-time environment and make sure we can compete well for four days straight because each day is long and tiring,”Cavana said. “We are all excited for the opportunity and ready to get going.”
The Tigers placed seventh at the last season’s championships while the women finished fifth. LSU’s last SEC championship came in 1988 when the men won their lone title in school history.
The top eight athletes in each event advance to the finals and the top two finalists are named to the All-SEC team, with the winner honored as a First Team All-SEC selection and the runner-up making the second team. Four Lady Tigers made the All-SEC squad in 2002.
Florida’s women and Auburn’s men look to defend their conference titles from a year ago. The Auburn women, currently No. 1 in the country, are in search of their first-ever SEC championship. The Auburn men are ranked No. 2 in the country entering the meet. Florida’s women’s team is ranked second and the Gator men are eighth. The Auburn men have won the last six SEC titles and eight of the last nine.
The championships begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday with the men’s 1-meter diving preliminaries. The finals of the 1-meter will be held at 6 p.m. A schedule of events, results page as well as a complete list of all competitors can be accessed through a link on Auburn’s official we b site (www.auburntigers.com) and results, quotes, and a complete recap of each day’s action will be posted on www.lsusports.net.
2003 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships
James E. Martin Aquatics Center
Auburn, Ala.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday, Feb. 19
10 a.m.
Men’s 1-meter diving prelims
1:30 p.m.
Women’s 3-meter diving prelims
6 p.m.
Men’s 1-meter diving finals
Men’s 200-yard medley relay finals
Women’s 200-yard medley relay finals
Women’s 3-meter diving finals
Men’s 800-yard freestyle relay finals
Women’s 800-yard freestyle relay finals
LSU athletes participating in events on Wednesday, Feb. 19
(Seeds listed in parentheses)
1-meter diving (men)
(14) Kyle Van Arsdall (Sr.)
3-meter diving (women)
(15) Barb Gorst (Sr.)
(18) Jessica Wantz (So.)
200-yard medley relay (men)
(6) Evan Martinec (Jr.), Matt Rucker (Jr.), Francisco Paez (So.), Mike Jotautas (Sr.)
200-yard medley relay (women)
(6) Cissy Schepens (Sr.), Lindsay Staak (So.), Laura Jo Leininger (Jr.), Donna Leslie (Jr.)
800-yard freestyle relay (men)
(8) Jan Minartz (Jr.), Martin Latz (Sr.), Chris Stanczyk (Jr.), Francisco Paez (So.)
800-yard freestyle relay (women)
(8) Laura Jo Leininger (Jr.), Donna Leslie (Jr.), Stephanie Smith (Jr.), Margaret Beadle (So.)