BATON ROUGE — Three months into the collegiate swimming and diving season, several times and scores by LSU swimmers and divers are ranked among the nation’s best according to Collegeswimming.com.
Sophomore Katie Gilmore is currently fifth in the nation and second in the SEC in the 50 freestyle. Gilmore owns a school-record clocking of 22.89 she obtained in a consolation final win at the Art Adamson Invitational on Nov. 17.
Gilmore is .14 seconds off of an NCAA automatic qualifier, and she is only second to Kentucky’s Jenny Bradford in the SEC (22.09).
Freshman Signe Larson has been the Lady Tigers’ most valuable breaststroker and ranks 23rd in the nation in the 100 breaststroke (1:03.85) and 25th in the country in the 200 breaststroke (2:18.38)
Larson’s mark in the 200 breaststroke — the sixth-best time in school history — was recorded when she finished fifth in the championship final at College Station. The Portland, Ore., native also owns the fifth-fastest 100 breaststroke time in school history.
LSU’s individual successes have led the Lady Tigers to top-15 times nationally in relays. The group of Katherine Noland, Colleen Bertirotti, Gilmore and Sabrina Messmer hold the fifth-best 200 free relay time in the country after posting a clocking of 1:32.26 at the Adamson Invitational.
That time is also second best in the SEC and trails only Texas A&M, Michigan and Kentucky for the national lead.
Noland, Gilmore, Bertirotti and Sarah Dicharry are eighth in the nation and third in the SEC in the 400 free relay (3:24.02).
In the women’s 400 medley relay, LSU’s Berit Aljand, Larson, Bertirotti and Noland rank 22nd in the nation (3:48.65).
Senior diver Hali Saucier has made a case for SEC Diver of the Year. Saucier owns the highest 3-meter, six-dive total in the SEC having posted a school-record mark of 340.35 against then-No. 2 Florida on Nov. 9.
Saucier, who has won 11 of the 15 events she has participated in this year, also ranks second in the league in the 1-meter (321.37), trailing only South Carolina’s Lyndsey Havens.
Meanwhile, the LSU men’s team is enjoying its best dual-meet season since 2000, and the Tigers are on the verge of cracking the Collegeswimming.com Top 25.
LSU ranked 26th in the country before it won the Art Adamson Invitational rather convincingly, which included a victory over host and 25th-ranked Texas A&M. The Tigers have arguably the toughest schedule in the nation that has included meets against then-No. 2 Stanford, defending national champion Auburn, No. 10 Florida and No. 19 Alabama.
Sophomore All-American Julius Gloeckner ranks in the top five of several events in the SEC. Gloeckner is tops in the league in the 200 free (1:37.30) and 400 individual medley (3:51.93). He is also second in the SEC in the 500 free (4:23.62) and 200 fly (1:47.34).
Gloeckner became a two-time recipient of the LSU Male Athlete of the Week with his performance in College Station. He joins LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell as the only multi-time winner of the award.
Junior freestyler Miko Malberg owns the SEC’s fastest 50 free time this season with his NCAA provisional cut of 20.15. He is second in the conference in the 100 free (44.54).
For the second straight season, junior Kevin Braud has been the Tigers’ top performer in backstroke events and the SEC is taking notice. Braud is second in the league in the 100 back (48.87) — trailing only Florida’s Lucas Salatta — while also ranking fifth in the SEC in the 200 back (1:47.46).
Freshman Will Rivers shattered a school record in the 1650 free at the Adamson Invitational with his NCAA “B” cut of 15:21.78. That time ranks second in the SEC and trails only Georgia All-American Sebastien Rouault.
The LSU men own the SEC’s fastest times in all three free relays, including the 200 free (1:21.10), 400 free (2:59.49) and 800 free (3:17.58) with all times being recorded in College Station two weeks ago.
The Tigers are second in the league in the 400 medley relay with another NCAA provisional time of 3:17.58.
LSU returns to action at the Christmas Invitational in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Jan. 2 before resuming the dual-meet season at home against Florida State on Jan. 12.