ATHENS, Ga. — Lady Tiger swimmer Jane Trepp shattered two more of her own program records, and five athletes reached championship finals to lead LSU on Friday at the 2010 SEC Championships in Athens, Ga.
The Lady Tigers also moved past Alabama for fifth in the women’s standings (205 points) with one day remaining. The Tigers are currently seventh with 203.5 points.
Trepp qualified for her second and third championship finals of the competition with school-record and NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the prelims of the 100-yard butterfly and 100 breast. The junior recorded a clocking of 52.73 seconds to emerge as the top qualifier in the prelims of the 100 fly before taking fifth overall in the finals (53.00). She also broke her previous school mark in the prelims of the 100 breast (1:00.91) and claimed seventh in the finals.
Juniors James Meyers and Hannes Heyl, sophomore Mary Beck and freshman Andrei Tuomola also reached championship finals. Meyers and Heyl were sixth and seventh, respectively, in the 100 back with ‘B’ cuts of 47.61 and 48.22. Furthermore, Heyl swam to an 11th-place finish in the 100 butterfly (47.29).
Beck had her best day of the meet thus far with a seventh-place finish in the 100 back. The Austin, Texas, native reached the wall in 53.73, her fastest mark as a Lady Tiger. Tuomola was one of two freshmen to earn a spot in the ‘A’ final of the men’s 100 breast after registering the fourth-best mark in school history in the prelims, 53.93. The Finnish product finished sixth with a 54.17 mark.
In relay competition, the Lady Tigers’ 400 medley foursome of Beck, Kannon Betzen, Trepp and Amanda Kendall secured fifth with a season best and provisional mark of 3:39.46. The men’s 400 medley group of Meyers, Tuomola, Heyl and Sean LeNeave closed out the evening session with a fifth-place finish and a provisional mark of 3:11.07.
“We had a great morning with numerous athletes qualifying for finals, and I’m proud of my teams for continuing to fight tonight,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “The women moved up today and are sitting in fifth currently. With one day left, I’m hoping we come into tomorrow’s session with the right mindset and finish strong.”
Sophomore Morgan McGee reached a pair of consolation finals on Day 3 as the in-state product from Shreveport delivered a 12th-place finish in the 100 back (54.80) and a 16th-place finish in the 100 fly (55.29). She also recorded a personal best and ‘B’ cut mark of 54.44 in the prelims of the 100 fly.
Junior Clint Hallum moved into second-place all-time in program annals in the 400 individual medley with his personal best and provisional mark of 3:50.44 to capture 10th overall, while Betzen seized 14th in the women’s 100 breast with a ‘B’ cut of 1:02.50.
Senior Lauren Grandy swam to an 11th-place finish in the 200 free with a personal best and ‘B’ cut of 1:47.78. Kendall followed in 14th with a top time and provisional mark of 1:48.25.
In diving, sophomore Brian Gemberling tallied a career-high 281.15 points in the platform competition to earn 11th. Freshman Jesse Lyman was 15th with a 233.25 score.
Moreover, freshman Kaelee Mader earned a spot in the consolation final of the 400 I.M. with the fourth-fastest mark in school history, 4:18.54. She placed 16th overall with a 4:21.99 clocking. Junior Luis Gonzalez posted a 17th-place finish in the 400 I.M. with a season best and ‘B’ cut mark of 3:56.09.
Several athletes posted personal bests with solid swims in the prelims, including sophomore Simon Diefenthal, junior Ali Sanford and freshman Sally Wood.
Diefenthal finished just outside the top 16 with a top time of 49.28 in the 100 back, seventh all-time at LSU, to take 17th. Sanford emerged with a lifetime best of 54.92 in the 100 fly, eighth in program history, to place 18th. Wood came in 21st with her personal best of 4:20.08 and moved into fifth in school annals.
The final day will include the mile race, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, 400 free relays and women’s platform diving.
Links to live video streaming and live results will be provided by www.LSUsports.net.
2010 SEC Championships
Feb. 17-20 – Athens, Ga.
Event Order
Feb. 20
1650 Freestyle
200 Backstroke
100 Freestyle
200 Breaststroke
200 Butterfly
Platform Diving (women)
400 Freestyle Relay