LEXINGTON, Ky. — Three LSU divers qualified for 1-meter and 3-meter finals’ sessions as the opening day of the Southeastern Conference Diving Championships came to a close at the UK Lancaster Aquatic Center on Friday.
The LSU women’s team tallied the third-highest point total (31), and the Lady Tigers were one of two teams to have three divers score. The LSU men finished the first day with 13 points. Auburn leads both the men’s and women’s standings with 61 points and 34 points, respectively.
“I’m just really happy all the way around,” said diving coach Doug Shaffer. “We’ve gotten off to a good start with some career-high finishes. The competition was phenomenal and could have gone either way.”
Senior Hali Saucier was the Lady Tigers’ highest finisher in the women’s 3-meter by taking sixth place in the finals (308.25). Saucier, who scored a mark of 314.60 in the prelims, recorded the highest finish of her career in any event at the SEC meet.
Saucier’s previous best SEC Championships’ finish came with a seventh-place score in the 1-meter and 3-meter in 2005 when she was a sophomore.
Paige Brown also enjoyed a career evening as the junior reached her first finals session. Brown, a native of Zionsville, Ind., recorded a career-high, eighth-place finish in the 3-meter finals with a score of 283.75. She improved on her prelims’ score of 271.95.
“Paige and Hali had landmark performances today, and I am just really proud of the whole team,” added Shaffer.
Freshman Rachel Ware just missed qualifying for the finals after posting a score of 267.10 to finish 10th. Auburn’s Corey Gerlach won the event with a final score of 354.00.
In the men’s 1-meter, sophomore Nathan Schreiber reached the finals and finished eighth with a score of 313.55. Schreiber, who tallied a mark of 309.90 in the prelims, has qualified for finals in three of the four S EC events he has participated in dating back to his freshman season.
Freshman Kalister Harmon was LSU’s next highest scorer with a 15th-place mark of 250.50. Senior Andrew Keane was 19th (232.60), and Auburn’s Steven Segerlin won the 1-meter in a score of 368.80.
Events continue on Saturday with the women’s 1-meter and men’s 3-meter, beginning at 10 a.m. CT. Finals of both events get underway at 5 p.m. CT.
2007 SEC Diving Championships
UK Lancaster Aquatic Center
Lexington, Ky.
Men’s Team Scores (After Day 1)
1. Auburn — 61
2. Florida — 23
3. Georgia — 19
4. South Carolina — 17
5. LSU — 13
6. Alabama — 9
7. Kentucky — 7
8. Tennessee — 6
Women’s Team Scores (After Day 1)
1. Auburn — 34
2. Kentucky — 33
3. LSU — 31
4. Tennessee — 19
5. Georgia — 18
6. Arkansas — 12
7. South Carolina — 6
8. Florida — 2
Saturday’s Schedule of Events (all times Central)
10 a.m. Women’s 1-meter prelims
1:30 p.m. Men’s 3-meter prelims
5 p.m. Women’s 1-meter finals
6 p.m. Men’s 3-meter finals