COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The final day of competition at the Texas A&M Invitational saw the LSU swimming and diving team add four more individual victories to its weekend tally at the Student Recreation Center.
The Tiger men finished the meet with a third-place total of 708 points. The Aggie men held off SMU to win the competition 1,199-1045.5. The LSU women took fifth with a three-day total of 428.5 points. Texas A&M, SMU and Michigan were first, second and third, respectively.
Sophomore diver Hali Saucier left Sunday as a champion in the women’s platform competition. Saucier accumulated 266.95 points, just ahead of teammate Paige Brown who was second at 223.15.
In the men’s portion, Niko Dalman and Andrew Keane finished second and third. Dalman’s total of 270.45 placed behind David Kalec of the host Aggies.
LSU’s versatile trio of Julius Gloeckner, Miko Malberg and Kevin Braud finished off the meet with individual wins in swimming events.
Gloeckner captured his third individual victory of the weekend with a first-place finish in the 200 butterfly. After going 1:51.75 in the prelims, he won by nearly three seconds in the finals with a clocking of 1:50.40.
Malberg exemplified his brilliance again in sprint freestyle events on Sunday. The sophomore earned an NCAA “B” cut with his winning time of 44.19 in the 100 free championship final. It was his third first-place finish of the meet and second individually.
Braud, who won the 100 backstroke on Saturday, completed a sweep of men’s backstroke events. The Destrehan, La., native took home first-place honors in the 200 back, swimming a “B” cut of 1:46.62.
Senior Matt Coenen qualified for the championship final of the 200 breaststroke in his final A&M Invitational. Coenen gave the Aggies’ top two breaststroke swimmers a run and finished third at 2:06.25.
On the women’s side, Colleen Bertirotti won the “C” final of the 100 free with a time of 52.03. Clare Schepens placed seventh in the 1650 free (17:06.68), and Berit Aljand was seventh in the championship final of the 200 back (2:02.81).
Freshman Katherine Noland qualified for the “A” final of the 200 fly and concluded her meet with a sixth-place finish (2:03.68). Team co-captain Heather Brand was eighth in the event (2:06.61).
LSU nearly set a school record in the final women’s relay of the meet, the 400 free. The Lady Tigers’ group of Noland, Bertirotti, Brand and Katie Gilmore swam a time of 3:23.92 to finish fourth. The NCAA “B” cut was .83 seconds away from bettering the school mark set back in 1993.
The Tigers return home to host the Bengal Tiger Aquatic Club Christmas Invitational, Dec. 2-4, at the LSU Natatorium.
2005 Texas A&M Invitational
Nov. 18-20
Student Recreation Center Natatorium
College Station, Texas
Men’s Team Standings (Final)
1. Texas A&M 1199
2. SMU 1045.5
3. LSU 708
4. South Carolina 682.5
Women’s Team Standings (Final)
1. Texas A&M 1123
2. SMU 891.5
3. Michigan 871
4. South Carolina 444
5. LSU 428.5
6. Tulane 140
7. Houston 92