BATON ROUGE — Both of the LSU swimming and diving teams jumped in the latest rankings released by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America as the men’s squad climbed to No. 17 and the women’s team jumped to No. 18.
The Lady Tigers (8-3) finished their regular season with a sweep over the Houston Cougars, 240-102, and Rice Owls, 216-119, in a two-day meet in Houston.
The LSU men’s squad (6-3) capped off its regular season with an impressive 186-114 win over then No.17-ranked Texas A&M at the LSU Natatorium.
LSU is one of five Southeastern Conference teams ranked in both polls. Along with LSU, Georgia, Florida, Auburn and Tennessee appear in both polls. Georgia owns the top spot in the women’s poll and Auburn is the highest ranked SEC in the men’s poll at No. 5.
LSU represents a number of top national and conference times heading into the postseason.
Miko Malberg‘s 50-free time (19.85) at the Georgia Tech Invitational ranks 11th in the nation and fourth in the conference. Malberg, who will represent his native country of Estonia at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, also captured a top-ten time in the 100 free at the Georgia Invitational as his time of 44.46 ranks eighth.
Hannes Heyl owns the nation’s 22nd best time in the 100 back with his time of 47.96 that he clocked in the regular-season finale against Texas A&M. Heyl’s time also ranks sixth in the conference.
Julius Gloeckner and Brandon Selts each captured a top-ten conference time at the Georgia Tech Invitational. Gloeckner’s 500-free time of 5:26.23 and Selts’ 50-free time of 20.39 each rank ninth in the conference.
The LSU men represent five top-ten relay times in the conference, highlighted by the Tiger team of Gloeckner, Connor Farber, Sean LeNeave and Clint Hallum‘s 800-free relay time (6:38.83) ranks seventh in the nation and second in the conference.
Diver Niko Dalman owns a top-ten conference score in each of the three diving events. The Auburn, Wash., native ranks 10th (352.25) in the 3-meter springboard, eighth (348.37) in the one-meter springboard and fourth (298.55) in the platform.
Diver Michael Neubacher ranks seventh in the SEC in the one-meter springboard (348.75) and third in the platform (323.25).
On the women’s side, Katie Gilmore placed the SEC’s 10th best 50-free time (23.01) at the Georgia Tech Invitational.
Monica McJunkin also placed a top-ten conference time at the Georgia Tech Invitational as her 100 back time of 55.05 ranks eighth.
Katherine Noland‘s 100-free time (49.95) against Florida State ranks eight in the conference.
The Lady Tigers represent five top-ten relay times in the conference. Most notably, the team of Gilmore, Noland, McJunkin, and Jane Trepp‘s time of 1:32.17 in the 200 free at the Georgia Tech Invitational ranks 10th nationally and fourth in the SEC.
Diver Paige Brown holds the conference’s top mark in the platform event with the 261.45 points she tallied at the Georgia Diving Invitational. Brown ranks eighth in the conference in the three-meter springboard by posting a score of 306.47 against Delta State.
Sophomore Rachel Ware owns a top-ten conference mark in each of the three diving events. The two-time NCAA All-American sits fourth (298.50) in the one-meter springboard, sixth in the platform (217.20) and 10th (301.50) in the three-meter springboard.
LSU will return to action Wednesday, Feb. 20 when it takes part in the SEC Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
College Swim Coaches Association of America Poll
Women’s
Rank Team Record Points Previous
1 Georgia (7) 10-0 293 2
2 Stanford (2) 4-1 291 3
3 Florida (1) 9-1 273 7
4 Arizona 9-1 271 5
5 Auburn 7-0 263 1
6 Texas A&M 3-0 258 4
7 Tennessee 8-1 239 9
8 California 4-1 229 6
9 Minnesota 4-1 218 8
10 Virginia 3-2 209 14 (tie)
11 Michigan 6-0 193 12
12 North Carolina 3-1 188 10
13 Penn State 2-3 174 11
14 SMU 5-1 173 13
15 UCLA 4-2 157 14 (tie)
16 Arizona State 1-3 148 17
17 Texas 9-1 131 16
18 LSU 6-1 119 19
19 Indiana 6-2 118 NR
20 Wisconsin 9-1 114 18
21 Missouri 3-2 94 20 (tie)
22 Florida State 13-2 92 22
23 Virginia Tech 9-2 90 23
23 Washington 6-4 90 24
25 Southern Calif. 6-2 64 20 (tie)
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Arkansas 50, Princeton 40, Kentucky 25, Northwestern 21, Kansas 7, Ohio State 7, Brigham Young 4, Santa Barbara 3, Notre Dame 1
DROPPED FROM RANKINGS: Kentucky (24)
Men’s
Rank Team Record Points Previous
1 Texas (10) 6-0 300 1
2 Arizona 7-0 289 3
3 Stanford 3-1 273 2
4 Michigan 7-1 271 4
5 Auburn 3-2 265 6
6 Florida 10-2 251 5
7 Indiana 4-3 236 8
8 Minnesota 4-1 226 9
9 Tennessee 6-2 224 7
10 Georgia 4-2 211 10
11 California 3-1 201 11
12 Purdue 7-2 192 12
13 Ohio State 8-0 179 13
14 North Carolina 3-2 171 15
15 Virginia 6-3 160 14
16 Penn State 8-1 151 16
17 LSU 6-3 134 19
18 Northwestern 6-5 129 17
19 Missouri 10-2 113 20
20 Texas A&M 2-4 102 18
21 SMU 5-1 101 22
22 Harvard 6-0 68 NR
23 Louisville 4-2 59 NR
24 Santa Barbara 6-1 58 25 (tie)
24 Brigham Young 5-0 58 25 (tie)
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Southern California 54, Arizona State 51, Notre Dame 21, Clemson 19, Wisconsin 17, Florida State 16, Virginia Tech 16, Princeton 12, Washington 7, Kentucky 6, Alabama 5, Missouri State 3, Denver 1
DROPPED FROM RANKINGS: Notre Dame (24)