COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The LSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams each leaped a spot in the standings on the final day of competition thanks in large part to sophomore Hali Saucier and senior Christian Clausen, as the Tigers placed third at the 2004 Texas A&M Invitational.
Saucier captured the women’s platform diving competition with a career-best score of 378.55, holding off teammate Jessica Wantz. Both Saucier and Wantz combined to score 37 points on Sunday to the women’s final tally of 554. No. 8 Texas A&M took home the women’s title with 1,424 points.
Clausen held off Texas A&M All-American Alfredo Jacobo to win the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:04.02. Nearly impressive was the fact Clausen took five seconds off of his time of 2:09.11 in the preliminaries. For Clausen’s efforts, the Tigers earned a full 20 points to their final score of 704. Host Texas A&M also won the men’s competition with 1,332 points.
Jan Minartz took third-place honors in the 1650 freestyle, swimming a time of 16:23.45. Minartz was the highest LSU finisher in the event.
Freshman Kevin Braud in just his second competition made an immediate impact, qualifying for the “A” final of the 200 backstroke. Braud swam an impressive time of 1:52.70 to place fifth out of 13 participants. Justin Boyes also made the finals of the 200 back and finished eighth (1:57.46).
Freshman Miko Malberg continued to make a name for himself on Sunday by qualifying for his second final of the weekend. Malberg took fourth place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 46.41.
Lauren Harvey also qualified for her first final on the weekend and in the process finished eighth in the 200 breaststroke (2:25.32).
Two Lady Tigers qualified for the finals of the 200 butterfly. Margot Gathings and Jenna Molinski took seventh and eighth, respectively.
LSU also got an impressive swim from Myles Jaynes in the 200 butterfly finishing eighth, while touching the wall at 1:57.55.
The Tigers will return to action at the Florida Classic from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., beginning Tuesday, Dec. 14.
TEXAS A&M INVITATIONAL FINAL STANDINGS
MEN
1. Texas A&M 1,332
2. SMU 975
3. LSU 704
4. UL-Monroe 699
WOMEN
1. Texas A&M 1,424
2. SMU 1,213
3. LSU 554
4. Arkansas 475