AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU swimming and diving teams had eight swimmers compete in finals on Friday evening in day three of the 2003 Southeastern Conference Championships at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn, Ala.
Junior All-American Evan Martinec placed second in the finals of the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 47.36 and earned second team All-SEC honors by finishing as the runner-up in the event. Martinec won the preliminary in a school-record time of 46.98 on Friday morning. Florida sophomore Gabriel Mangabeira won the 100 backstroke in a time of 46.80. Martinec, a three-time All-American, is the first men’s swimmer to make All-SEC since Jarrod Marrss in 1998. Senior B.J. Alvarez placed 16th in the consolation final with a time of 50.91.
Senior Mike Jotautas finished 11th in the consolation final of the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 48.77. Auburn freshman Fred Bousquet won the event with a time of 46.70. Junior Laura Jo Leininger placed 14th in the women’s 100-fly consolation final with a time of 55.49. Georgia freshman Mary Descenza took first place with an SEC-record swim of 52.43. Junior Chris Stanczyk was yet another consolation finalist for LSU in the 200-yard freestyle and placed 16th with a time of 1:43.91. Florida’s Adam Sioui won the event with a time of 1:34.58.
Junior Matt Rucker placed 11th in the consolation final of the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.13. Auburn senior Pat Calhoun won with a time of 52.85. Senior Cissy Schepens placed eighth in the women’s 100-breaststroke final with a time of 1:05.02. Sophomore Lauren Harvey placed 16th in the consolation final with that exact time of 1:05.02. Auburn’s Maggie Bowen won the event with a time of 1:00.05.
Sophomore Lindsay Staak finished 11th in the consolation final of the 100-yard backstroke. She swam the 100 in a time of 55.61. Auburn’s Kirsty Coventry won the event, swimming a time of 53.38. Senior Kyle Van Arsdall placed 10th in the preliminaries of the 3-meter diving competition with a score of 464.75.
LSU’s men’s team of Rucker, Martinec, Jotautas, and Francisco Paez placed fourth in the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:13.90, a new school record replacing the time of 3:!4.32 set in 1999. The women’s relay team comprised of Schepens, Staak, Leininger, and Julie Johnson placed fifth with a time of 3:46.61.
“We had some very good swims today and we had a lot of athletes make the finals, which is great,” said LSU head coach Jeff Cavana. “We are looking forward to tomorrow and finishing up here in a good way.”
The SEC Championships conclude on Saturday when preliminaries for all events begin at 10:30 a.m. Finals will begin at 6:30 p.m.
CURRENT TEAM SCORES
Women
1. Auburn 560.5
2. Florida 453
3. Georgia 451
4. Alabama 216
5. South Carolina 210
6. Tennessee 186.5
7. LSU 169
7. Arkansas 169
9. Kentucky 133
Men
1. Auburn 627.5
2. Florida 454
3. Georgia 336
4. Tennessee 302
5. Alabama 242
6. LSU 164
7. Kentucky 163
8. South Carolina 150.5