BATON ROUGE — The LSU diving teams return to action after several weeks away from competition when they travel to Auburn, Ala., to take part in the Auburn Diving Invitational, beginning Thursday at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
“We’re looking forward to competing at Auburn,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “It’s a training meet for us where we will continue to build on our training in the one-meter, three-meter and platform. We have a young team, so it’s a good opportunity for us to compete against some of our peers and work on some of the things that we’ve been working on.”
The invite, which will feature SEC foes Auburn and Alabama, will highlight some of the premier divers in the conference, including LSU’s Niko Dalman.
Dalman, a two-time All-American from Auburn, Wash., holds the school record in the three-meter springboard with a score of 391.55, a mark that earned him the bronze medal at the 2008 SEC Championships last season. The fifth-year senior has already qualified for the 2009 NCAA Zone ?B’ Diving Championships in March and currently ranks second in the conference in the one-meter board with a 346.72 score.
Freshmen Matt Vieke and Brian Gemberling will round out the men’s action for the Tigers. Vieke, a product of Indianapolis, Ind., has also earned a berth to the NCAA Zone ?B’ Championships, qualifying for the event with a three-meter mark of 321.23 against Alabama on Nov. 7. Gemberling, a native of Levittown, Pa., brings in top scores of 273.82 and 268.28 in the one- and three-meter, respectively.
On the women’s side, the Lady Tigers’ freshman duo of Katie Lybbert and Chelsea McCorvey will compete at Auburn. Lybbert, a product of Argyle, Texas, leads the women with a 257.25 mark in the three-meter that she recorded against Florida on Oct. 22. McCorvey registered her top mark of 228.38 in that event against Alabama.
The Thursday and Friday sessions of the Auburn Diving Invitational will begin at 11 a.m. (CT). Saturday’s start time is set for 10 a.m.