BATON ROUGE — LSU sophomore diver Brian Gemberling shattered a program record, and junior Jane Trepp posted a trio of NCAA provisional marks, but it was not enough to upend nationally-ranked Texas A&M Saturday in the LSU Natatorium.
The 17th-ranked LSU men (2-6) won six events and closed out the meet with a pool record in the 200-yard freestyle relay, but No. 19 Texas A&M held on, 161.5-138.5. The sixth-ranked Aggie women emerged victorious, 173-124, over the 24th-ranked Lady Tigers (3-6).
“It was great to compete today against such a high-level opponent,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “Texas A&M has two very good teams. I’m proud of the way we competed all the way to the end. We had some good swims and diving performances today.”
Gemberling overtook former LSU All-American Niko Dalman‘s school record in the three-meter springboard with a 393.07 score to take first-place in what turned out to be a thrilling competition. The Levittown, Pa., native came from behind with superb efforts in his final two attempts to not only break the record but also edge Texas A&M’s Cameron McLean by less than a point for the victory.
Freshman Rebecca St. Germain also shined on the boards, sweeping the women’s one- and three-meter. She claimed first in the three-meter with a career best of 326.03 and tallied a winning one-meter score of 295.35. Fellow freshman Jesse Lyman was third in the men’s three-meter (294.37).
“I’m ecstatic with some excellent diving performances today,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “Brian Gemberling clinched the three-meter in his final dive and broke the school record, and Becca swept both boards. We have a little ways to go, but we’re on track, and I’m excited about where we are with the SEC Championships coming up soon.”
Trepp led the Lady Tiger swimmers with a stellar performance as she recorded season bests and NCAA ‘B’ cuts in three races, but none was more impressive than her effort in the 100 breaststroke. The Estonian beat out the nation’s fastest swimmer in that event, Alia Atkinson, and handed the Aggie All-American her first loss in that race this season with a time of 1 minute, 2.01 seconds.
She also swam to victory in the 100 butterfly (53.99), helped the women’s 400 medley relay take first-place and led-off the women’s 200 free relay with a season-best split of 22.91.
LSU opened the meet with victories in both relays. The women’s 400 medley team of Mary Beck, Kannon Betzen, Trepp and Amanda Kendall registered a winning mark and NCAA provisional time of 3:41.89, while the men’s squad of James Meyers, Andrei Tuomola, Hannes Heyl and Sean LeNeave won with a ‘B’ cut mark of 3:15.79.
The Tigers closed out the competition with a pool record in the 200 freestyle relay as Tuomola, Heyl, LeNeave and Eric Zeller notched a winning time of 1:20.23.
Heyl spearheaded the Tiger efforts in individual competition with wins in the 50 free and 100 fly. His mark in the 100 fly, 48.05, was another NCAA ‘B’ cut and season best. Fellow junior Clint Hallum captured first in the 400 individual medley with a season best of 3:57.83.
In addition, Beck gave the Lady Tigers a victory in the 200 backstroke with a mark of 1:58.88.
The LSU men’s and women’s teams will split up next week with the Tigers staying home to face the University of New Orleans in Baton Rouge and the Lady Tigers traveling to Houston to take on the University of Houston and Rice. Both meets will be two-day events that begin Friday at 5 p.m. (CST). Check back with www.LSUsports.net for more information.