BATON ROUGE — For the second straight season, LSU swimmers Clint Hallum and Shanna Spears have earned a spot on the Southeastern Conference Men’s and Women’s Community Service Teams, respectively, for their contributions to the Baton Rouge community.
Both Spears and Hallum are officers on LSU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee where they coordinate the teams’ efforts in the community. They also spend countless hours working with charities, schools and hospitals in the Baton Rouge area as part of the Geaux Givers program.
“Shanna and Clint have been instrumental in bringing service opportunities to our program,” co-head coach David Geyer said. “They both have developed as leaders on the team and in the community during their four years as Tigers.”
A senior from Marietta, Ga., Spears is currently developing a program with the Boys Hope Girls Hope organization to offer free swimming clinics to teens and younger children this spring.
She helped organize the team’s efforts with the Thanksgiving with the Tigers campaign in November when the squad adopted an underprivileged child and provided gifts while also serving a Thanksgiving meal to the family.
She also served as a volunteer for the American Heart Association’s Go Healthy Challenge where she set up physical fitness stations to promote to local children the importance of healthy living and spearheaded Give Kids a Smile Day, a campaign at a local dentistry to provide underprivileged children with a free teeth cleaning and oral health examination.
Hallum, a senior from Mesquite, Texas, helped put together the team’s station at LSU’s annual BOOzar, an event to give kids a safe environment to enjoy Halloween. He also took part in a Habitat for Humanity build, LSU Greening Day to beautify the campus and the team’s Christmas toy drive.
In addition, both routinely visit children at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital and read to kids at various elementary schools.
2011 SEC Swimming and Diving Community Service Teams
Men’s Team
Kyle Weeks, Alabama
Dan Mazzaferro, Auburn
Brian Howell, Florida
Bill Cregar, Georgia
Matt Russell, Kentucky
Clint Hallum, LSU
Women’s Team
Kelsie Ludolph, Alabama
Erica Meissner, Auburn
Anna-Liisa Pold, Florida
Lauren Cartwright, Georgia
Kayla Sergesketter, Kentucky
Shanna Spears, LSU
Mallory Cage, South Carolina
Gabrielle Trudeau, Tennessee