BATON ROUGE — The nationally-ranked LSU swimming and diving teams will take part in the three-day Cougar Classic Fall Invitational, beginning Friday at 10 a.m. (CST) in the University of Houston’s CRWC Natatorium.
LSU will be aiming for NCAA cuts and season bests this weekend as it steps out of the dual-meet setting and competes in an invitational format for the first time this season. The invite will feature several solid programs with LSU battling the likes of nationally-ranked foes Texas A&M, SMU and UNLV as well as host Houston, in-state rival Tulane, Kansas, Air Force and Incarnate Word.
Both squads have a number of athletes who are capable of challenging for event titles and several strong relays. The Tigers currently have seven athletes ranked in the nation’s top 30 in nine different races and the second-fastest 200 medley relay in the country to this point. Six athletes on the Lady Tigers’ roster have top-30 times nationally.
“We are going to swim through this meet,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “Considering how fast some of our athletes have already swum this season, I’m confident we will continue to swim fast and record more NCAA cuts and season bests in Houston. Typically, our first invitational of the year in November yields great results for us.
“Certainly this will also be the first collegiate invitational for our freshmen, so they’ll get to see what it’s like to swim at this level.”
The 15th-ranked LSU men (1-4) are coming off their first win of the season at the University of New Orleans where they broke four pool records, while the 21st-ranked Lady Tigers (2-4) earned their second win of the season with five pool records of their own.
All four men’s and women’s relay squads in the 200-yard freestyle and medley relays shattered pool marks, while junior Jane Trepp and freshmen Craig Hamilton, Lee Duggins, Sara Haley and Jana Ruimerman claimed pool marks in individual racing.
Trepp swam the lead-off leg on the women’s 200 free relay with a record split of 23.29 seconds, while Haley and Ruimerman recorded pool marks in the 200 butterfly (2:01.82) and 200 backstroke (2:02.97), respectively. Hamilton registered a pool record in the 1000 free (9:19.20), and Duggins posted a new mark in the 200 back (1:51.15).
The teams also received winning efforts from 15 other athletes against the Privateers, including two wins from SEC Freshman Swimmer of the Week Andrei Tuomola, and divers Brian Gemberling, Matt Vieke and Elle Schmidt enjoyed winning performances in springboard events.
Live results will be available for this weekend’s competition, and a link to the page will be posted on www.LSUsports.net once it is provided.
Cougar Classic Fall Invitational
Nov. 20-22 ? Houston, Texas
Schedule of Events
Friday, Nov. 20
200-yard Freestyle Relay
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard Individual Medley
50-yard Freestyle
Springboard Diving
400-yard Medley Relay
Saturday, Nov. 21
200-yard Medley Relay
400-yard Individual Medley
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
Springboard Diving
800-yard Freestyle Relay
Sunday, Nov. 22
1650-yard Freestyle
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
Platform Diving
400-yard Freestyle Relay
* The prelims will begin each day at 10 a.m. (CST), while the finals will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday.