IRVINE, Calif — Seven LSU swimmers and three incoming signees raced at the 2010 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships this past week at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, Calif.
Two-time NCAA All-American Amanda Kendall highlighted the teams’ efforts as she earned a spot in the bonus final of the women’s 100-meter butterfly with a personal best of 1 minute, 0.87 seconds. Kendall, a native of Fairfax, Va., took 23rd in that event with a mark of 1:01.28.
The sophomore-to-be also finished in the top half of the field in both the 50m and 100m freestyle, recording 38th in the 50m free (26.56) and 42nd in the 100m free (57.34).
Senior-to-be Kannon Betzen enjoyed a solid effort in the 200m individual medley, clocking a 2:20.25 to tie for 53rd. She also registered a 1:14.04 clocking in the 100m breaststroke to place 80th.
Men’s senior-to-be Clint Hallum raced in four events during the week – the 100m and 200m breast and 200m and 400m I.M. The product of Mesquite, Texas, posted a 62nd-place finish in the 100m breast (1:05.84) and finished 68th in the 200m breast (2:23.70). He also placed 70th in the 400m I.M. (4:33.06) and 95th in the 200m I.M. (2:08.56).
Sophomores-to-be Sara Haley and Audrey Lawson each swam the 200m butterfly, placing 72nd (2:19.15) and 92nd (2:21.34), respectively. Fellow Lady Tigers Jana Ruimerman and Chelsea Griffith represented the squad in the backstroke. Ruimerman swam a mark of 2:24.67 in the 200m back, while Griffiths reached the wall in 1:07.96 in the 100m back.
Incoming signees Michael Saco, Andrea Staub and Emily Schwabe also competed at Nationals. Saco clocked a 23.92 in the 50m free to place 80th and recorded a time of 53.09 in the 100m free. Staub took 96th in the 200m I.M. (2:23.03), and Schwabe was 96th in the 200m breast (2:42.31).
Beginning Monday, five-time All-American Jane Trepp and four-time All-American Andrei Tuomola will take to the starting blocks at the 2010 European Long-Course Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
In diving, LSU’s three-meter record-holder Brian Gemberling, SEC Freshman Diver of the Year Rebecca St. Germain and sophomore-to-be Jesse Lyman will compete at the 2010 USA Diving AT&T National Championships in College Station, Texas, beginning Tuesday.