AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU swimming and diving teams finished up day two at the 2003 Southeastern Conference Championships with both the men’s and women’s teams in eighth place at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn, Ala.
The men currently have 95 points while the women have totaled 119. Host Auburn leads the meet on both sides, with the men having a score of 306.5 and the women 287.5. Florida is second in the men’s standings with 237 points and the Georgia women are second behind Auburn with 235 points.
Sophomore Jessica Wantz was one of three LSU athletes to make the finals on Thursday evening. The Houston native recorded a score of 274.05 in the finals of the 1-meter diving competition to place sixth. Tennessee’s Jamie Sanger won the event with a score of 323.25. Wantz finished the preliminary round in fourth place with a score of 272.35. In her first-career appearance at the SEC Championships, Wantz made the finals in both the 1- and 3-meter competition. She placed seventh in the finals of the 3-meter on Wednesday.
Senior Barb Gorst placed 11th in the preliminaries of the 1-meter and was very close to making the cut for the finals. She recorded a score of 247.85. Gorst will compete in the platform (10-meter) competition on Saturday evening and is attempting to defend her 2002 SEC platform title.
“Jessica really had a fabulous first showing in the SEC Championships,” said LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer. “For her to come here and final in two events against some of the top divers in the country is incredible.”
“She has worked very hard to get here after she missed the entire second half of last season due to having mono, and so basically what she did here is quite an accomplishment,” said Shaffer. “The strength of diving in the SEC is unparalleled in the nation and she came out and had a great week.”
“Barb did a good job on the 1-meter today and despite finishing 11th she actually was very close to qualifying for the finals,” said Shaffer. “She was battling a stomach flu but shook it off earlier today, so sue to the circumstances she did well. She can now get geared up for the platform on Saturday, which is really her big event.”
Junior All-American Stephanie Smith placed 11th in the consolation final of the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:51.91. Florida junior Sara McLarty won the 500 in a time of 4:41.10. Smith finished seventh in the 500 free a year ago at the championships held in Fayetteville, Ark. Junior Matt Rucker placed 13th in the consolation final of the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.36. Auburn freshman Fred Bousquet won the event with a time of 19:57.
LSU’s men’s 200-yard freestyle team of Francisco Paez, Evan Martinec, Matt Rucker, and Chris Stanczyk placed fourth with a time of 1:19.84. Auburn won the relay in a time of 1:17.73. The women’s team of Donna Leslie, Laura Jo Leininger, Julie Johnson, and Bethany Cottingham finished seventh in their relay with a time of 1:34.76. Auburn won the event in an SEC-record time of 1:29.48.
Friday’s session will begin at 10:30 a.m. with preliminaries of the men’s 400-yard individual medley. Sophomore Justin Boyes is the lone LSU competitor in the event and is seeded 28th overall. Friday’s portion of the championships features preliminaries and finals in seven different events. Senior Kyle Van Arsdall will compete in the 3-meter diving competition beginning at 1:30 p.m. Senior Mike Jotautas and Evan Martinec are will compete in the 100-yard butterfly and are seeded fourth and fifth. Junior Laura Jo Leininger is the fourth overall seed in the women’s 100-fly. Martinec is also the top seed in the 100-yard backstroke.
The 400-yard medley relay will cap the action on Friday evening and then the championships will wrap up on Saturday.
TEAM SCORES
MEN
1. Auburn (306.5)
2. Florida (237)
3. Georgia (137)
4. Tennessee (170
5. Alabama (124)
6. South Carolina (103.5)
7. Kentucky (98)
8. LSU (95)
WOMEN
1. Auburn (287.5)
2. Georgia (325)
3. Florida (197)
4. South Carolina (177)
5. Tennessee (146.5)
6. Alabama (135)
7. Arkansas (131)
8. LSU (119)
9. Kentucky (91)