BATON ROUGE — Fresh off of its SEC win at Arkansas, the LSU women’s swimming and diving team puts its two-meet winning streak on the line at 1 p.m. Thursday as it continues league action against No. 2 Florida at the LSU Natatorium.
The rare mid-week afternoon showdown begins a crucial SEC weekend for the squad. Both the men’s and women’s teams take on Alabama at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Thursday’s meet wraps up a separate competition with the Gators. The Florida men’s team visited the Natatorium three weeks ago, and despite suffering a 132-103 defeat, the LSU men picked up several individual victories.
The Lady Tigers (2-1, 1-1 SEC) are coming off of a 171-129 triumph at Arkansas last weekend. LSU recorded 16 season-fast times against the Lady Razorbacks, sparked by a pair of wins from freshman standout Signe Larson.
Larson, a native of Portland, Ore., was named LSU Female Student Athlete of the Week for first-place finishes in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.26) and 200 breaststroke (2:21.63).
The accolade marked the fourth time this season an LSU swimmer or diver had received the honor selected by a local panel of media. Sophomore Julius Gloeckner, freshman Will Rivers and senior Hali Saucier have all earned the honor.
Saucier enters this weekend’s competition with wins in her last five events. The senior swept the 1-meter and 3-meter at Arkansas with scores of 284.50 and 293.10, respectively. The streak dates back to a victory in the 3-meter at the SMU Classic on Oct. 21.
Florida (3-0, 1-0) combined for 15 first-place finishes in victories over No. 5 Georgia and No. 36 Minnesota two weeks ago. The Lady Gators return 23 letterwinners from a team that finished 10th at the NCAA Championships last March.
Florida represents the fifth ranked opponent LSU has faced this season, which includes the three Top 25 teams the Lady Tigers competed against at the SMU Classic. LSU also turned in a hard-fought meet in the season opener against defending national champion Auburn on Oct. 6.