BATON ROUGE — The LSU divers are set to open the new year with the Tennessee Diving Invitational, beginning Saturday at the brand-new Allan Jones Intercollegiate Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
The invitational will feature an enormous 17-team field as the Tigers will compete against divers from Alabama, Auburn, Carnegie Mellon, Clemson, Drexel, Florida, Georgia, Louisville, Navy, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Penn State, Rider, SMU, and host Tennessee in the three-day competition.
Saturday’s action is set to begin at 11 a.m. (CT) with the men taking off from the one-meter springboard and the women competing on the three-meter.
“The advantage of competing in this competition is that it’s in Tennessee’s beautiful new facility, which will be the site of our NCAA Zone Diving Regional in March,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “It’s a great benefit to come in here during the earlier part of the season so our divers can get accustomed to this facility.
“There will be a large field of divers on both sides, so this invitational will mirror what our NCAA Zone Diving Regional will look like.”
Senior Niko Dalman will look to build on a strong first half to his season with the first competition of 2009. The two-time All-American currently holds the second-highest one-meter score in the Southeastern Conference (346.72) and the fourth-best platform total (315.80). In addition, the Auburn, Wash., native tallied a season-best 377.05 points in the three-meter at the Auburn Diving Invitational two weeks ago, a mark that ranks him sixth in the conference.
Freshmen Matt Vieke and Brian Gemberling also recorded season-highs at the Auburn Invitational. Vieke, who has already qualified for the NCAA Zone Regional, improved his scores in the one-meter and platform, while Gemberling registered a season-best 310.95 points in the three-meter.
Lady Tigers Katie Lybbert and Chelsea McCorvey enjoyed solid outings at Auburn as well. Lybbert notched a season-high score of 273.65 in the three-meter to tie for fourth, and McCorvey posted her top one-meter total with a mark of 258.50.