AUBURN, Ala. — Five LSU swimmers posted wins and senior Hali Saucier and freshman Rachel Ware swept the women’s diving events Friday as the LSU swimming and diving team dropped a pair of decisions to top-ranked Auburn at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
Auburn, competing in its season opener, captured the first seven events of the dual en route to defeating LSU by scores of 176-115 (women) and 182-110 (men). However, LSU improved by besting times from its two previous meets against Stanford and the Purple and Gold Intrasquad.
“If you look at the results and compare them from last week, you can see that we got faster and continue to improve,” said head coach Adam Schmitt. “I am proud of the way we competed. It gives our group a precursor of what is to come when we compete at the SEC Championships.”
Junior team captain Kevin Braud picked up LSU’s first individual win, out touching Bryan Lundquist for first place in the 100 backstroke (50.21). Veteran Miko Malberg turned in an outstanding race in the 50 freestyle, swimming a time of 20.84 to take first. Malberg was second in the 100 free later in the day (46.50).
Sophomore Julius Gloeckner remained unbeaten on the season in the 200 individual medley, posting a time of 1:52.36. Gloeckner finished second in the 200 butterfly (1:51.33) and was third in the 200 breaststroke (2:07.02).
After winning three events with solid times in the intrasquad, sophomore Katherine Noland picked up where she left off and cruised to a victory in the 100 free (51.30), while sophomore Berit Aljand won the 200 back (2:04.81).
Freshman Signe Larson just missed a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke with a clocking of 1:05.72. Auburn’s Alicia Jensen out touched Aljand with a time of 1:05.72.
Schmitt praised his young team’s effort under the circumstances of facing the nation’s best team on the road.
“We are about 85 percent underclassmen, in our first road meet and against the No. 1 team in the nation,” said Schmitt. “There is a reason why they are the national champs. This helps reinforce what we are trying to teach and shows our team of what we want our program to be.”
Saucier and Ware earned 1-3 finishes in the 3-meter springboard by scores of 276.23 and 270.60, respectively. The two also tied for first place in the 1-meter with identical scores of 270.53.
“We competed pretty well today,” said diving coach Doug Shaffer. “It was nice to sweep those events, but at the end of the day I am still focused on our championship season ahead. It was a good foundation and starting point for where we need to go.”
Sophomore Nathan Schreiber was LSU’s highest finisher in the men’s 1-meter and 3-meter. The reigning SEC Freshman Diver of the Year dove a third-place tally of 272.18 and took fourth in the 3-meter with a mark of 265.05.