GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The LSU swimming and diving team swept the diving events and took three out of the four relays Saturday afternoon against Florida but it wasn’t enough as the Gators came out on top. The No. 5-ranked Florida men’s squad won, 132-109, and the No.7-ranked Florida women won by a 137-84 margin.
The loss snaps the No. 24-ranked LSU women’s five-meet win streak and put their record at 6-2. The No. 21-ranked LSU men’s team (5-3) had a four-meet win streak heading into Saturday’s SEC showdown.
“From one day to the next, we went to a totally different level of competition,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “From a top-20 team (Florida State) on Friday to a top-10 team today the competition has been strong. We are trying to build to be a top-ten team so it is good to face these types of teams. We had some season and career best times tonight and won some events but I thought we could have won some more. Overall, I am pretty proud of how we competed as we get ready for the SEC Championships that are a month away.”
Sophomore Rachel Ware took first place in both of the women’s diving events. The two-time NCAA All-American posted a dominating 286.50 score in the 1-meter springboard and tallied 301.50 points in the 3-meter springboard.
Senior Paige Brown followed Ware in the 3-meter springboard with a runner-up score of 260.33. Brown placed fourth in the 1-meter springboard with 247.20 points.
On the men’s side, freshman Michael Neubacher captured wins in both events by tallying 284.19 points in the 1-meter springboard and 311.48 points in the three-meter springboard.
Junior Niko Dalman placed second in the 1-meter springboard with a 275.18 score and third in the 3-meter springboard with 292.65 points.
“We competed really well under less than ideal circumstances with our traveling over the past two days,” LSU diving coach Doug Shafer said. “I was proud of the Tigers stepping up to the plate and sweeping the diving events. They represented LSU very well today.”
LSU captured three of the four relay events, including a 1-2 finish in the 200 free. The Tiger team of Monica McJunkin, Katie Gilmore, Sabrina Messmer and Jane Trepp finished first in the 200 free by hitting the wall at 1:33.31. Lauren Grandy, Ali Sanford, Victoria Givens and Nele Trepp swam in with a time of 1:38.37 to finish second.
In the 200 medley relay McJunkin, Givens, Gilmore and Katherine Noland placed second (1:42.34).
The LSU men won both of their relay events. The team of Hannes Heyl, Chris White, Christoph Lubenau and Miko Malberg won the 200 medley by clocking a time of 1:30.21. Malberg, Heyl, James Meyers and Brandon Selts teamed up to claim the top spot in the 200 free (1:21.67).
The Lady Tigers had an impressive showing in the 200 breaststroke with a 1-2-3 finish. Givens took the top spot with a time of 2:21.46 and was followed by teammates Sarah Bedell (2:23.03) and Kannon Betzen (2:25.54).
Senior Malberg won the 50 free by hitting the wall at 20.23.
Freshman Hannes won the 100 free by clocking in at 45.04.
LSU had a 2-3 finish in the 200 free with Noland and Betzen finishing at 1:48.69 and 1:51.46, respectively. Noland claimed another second place finish in the 100 free (50.23).
Three-time NCAA All-American Julius Gloeckner had his best finish in the 400 IM where he placed second with a time of 3.58.60.
The Tigers return to the pool Saturday, Jan. 19, where they will host the Texas A&M Aggies in their final home meet at the LSU Natatorium. Senior Day activities will take place before the meet.
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