BATON ROUGE — The LSU swimming and diving team steps away from the rigorous Southeastern Conference schedule as it welcomes Division II Delta State to the LSU Natatorium for a dual meet at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The meet will feature two heats — men’s and women’s — of 16 events. Relays include the 200 medley and 200 freestyle, while 1-meter and 3-meter springboard diving is also scheduled. Admission is free.
“This meet will allow me to move some people around in events to see if there will be some changes during the championship season,” said head coach Adam Schmitt. “You take any opponent seriously, but it gives me a chance to swim people in different events and see how they respond.”
The Lady Tiger women are coming off a productive weekend at the SMU Classic. LSU finished sixth in the event spearheaded by senior diver Hali Saucier. Saucier won the 3-meter with a score of 288.50, which was 29.50 points better than that of the next highest finisher. The Gig Harbor, Wash., native took runner-up honors in the 1-meter last Friday.
The LSU men are searching for its first dual-meet win of the year following a tough 132-103 loss to No. 3 Florida on Oct. 19. Sophomore Nathan Schreiber swept both diving events against the Gators, and freshman Will Rivers entered the school’s all-time top 10.
Schreiber defeated Florida All-American Jonathan Wilcox to earn his first wins of the season. Meanwhile, Rivers posted the sixth-fastest 1000 free time (9:24.28) in school history in only competing in his third official collegiate meet.
Despite the defeat, the Tigers contended in nearly every race, and head coach Adam Schmitt believed it was a positive sign of things to come.
“We were either winning it or right there, so that’s telling me that we can compete at the top level,” said Schmitt. “As we build the program, we will get that depth.”
LSU holds a 6-1 advantage all-time against Delta State, which includes a perfect 3-0 record on the women’s side. Last season, the Tiger men posted a convincing 125-88 win in Cleveland, Miss. LSU’s only loss to the Statesmen came on the road in 2003-04 by a score of 58-55.
Delta State, coached by Brian Hein, carries several All-Americans who earned top-16 finishes at the NCAA Division II Championships last spring. The Statesmen are ranked fourth in the latest Division II Collegeswimming.com poll, and the women’s team carries a No. 12 ranking into the contest.
DSU turned in strong performances at Alabama last weekend despite defeat.
“I give him credit for swimming Alabama last week and swimming LSU this week,” said Schmitt. “He’s making his schedule to better his team, just like we have done this year. I look forward to seeing Brian and his team this weekend. Hopefully, we will see some good results and move on with our season.”
Saturday’s dual will be the first meet for newly hired LSU assistant coach Sean Schimmel. Schimmel, an assistant at Harvard the past seven seasons, joined the team this week and looked forward to the challenges that lie ahead.
“I look forward to being a key component in the staff here and trying to help Adam fulfill his vision of being a nationally ranked team,” said Schimmel.