BATON ROUGE — Despite a number of strong performances from several of the LSU women’s dynamic newcomers against Tennessee, including a school-record swim from sophomore Mary Beck, the Lady Volunteers (1-1, 1-1 SEC) prevailed over the Lady Tigers, 170-130, Saturday in the LSU Natatorium.
The Lady Tigers (0-1, 0-1 SEC) will return to the pool Friday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. (CT) to take on SEC rival Auburn in the LSU Natatorium.
“I’m really proud of our girls for coming out and competing,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “I give a lot of credit to Tennessee. They have a great program. For us to come out and compete at that level ? winning events, getting a school record and NCAA ?B’ cuts ? that says something right now for October.
“We have a small team, but they pack a pretty good punch, so I think that bodes well for the future in terms of how I think we can do in upcoming meets as well as post-season competitions.”
It took little time for Beck to make her presence known in Baton Rouge as the superb transfer from California shattered the program record in the 200-yard backstroke and swept all three of her individual events against the Lady Vols. The sophomore swam to an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 1 minute, 57.45 seconds in the 200 back to overtake fellow Lady Tiger Samantha Goates‘ record time recorded last season.
Beck also swam to victory in the 200 individual medley (2:01.77) and the 200 freestyle (1:50.03). Her mark in the 200 I.M. was also an NCAA ?B’ cut time.
However, she wasn’t the only Lady Tiger to make a splash in her first official collegiate event. Freshman Sara Haley, a 2008 Olympic Trials participant, registered the second-fastest 200-butterfly mark in school history and another NCAA provisional time, 1:58.81, to come away with a victory.
In addition, freshman diver Rebecca St. Germain swept both springboard events and qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Regional in March. The San Antonio, Texas, native posted a one-meter score of 285.14, ninth-best all-time at LSU, and tallied a three-meter total of 298.13. Fellow diver Elle Schmidt enjoyed a solid effort with a runner-up finish in the three-meter (277.42).
Freshman Amanda Kendall helped the Lady Tigers’ cause with a pair of second-place finishes in the 50 and 100 free. Moreover, sophomore Morgan McGee took second in the 100 back (55.81), and junior Kannon Betzen placed second in the 100 breast (1:03.87).
The Lady Vols broke a pair of pool records in relay competition. The 200 medley relay team of Jenny Connolly, Jamie Saffer, Morgan Farrell and Michele King captured a new mark of 1:42.53, while the 400 free relay foursome of Kelsey Floyd, Caitlin Perks, Connolly and King emerged with a record time of 3:23.46.