GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Following a two-week span that included 15 medal winners and 13 school records, the LSU swimming and diving teams each earned fifth-place in the overall team standings at the conclusion of the 2011 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships Saturday in Gainesville, Fla.
The LSU women accumulated 393 points and posted their first top-five finish since 2002. The Lady Tigers made a 131-point improvement from a year ago, and they finished 141 points higher than sixth-place South Carolina.
The Tigers held off Alabama for the fifth spot in the men’s standings, tallying 271.5 points during the competition and posting their best finish since 2000.
“Our season goal when we started the season was for both teams to be top five at SEC’s, and we did it,” co-head coach David Geyer said. “The men were in a bit of a hole at one point, but they fought back and took care of business.
“The Lady Tigers were locked in all week, and it’s incredible that we pretty much rewrote our record books on the women’s side.”
Sophomore Amanda Kendall capped off her phenomenal meet with another bronze medal Saturday after setting a new LSU record in the 100 freestyle with a 47.90 clocking, just six one-hundredths of a second off the NCAA automatic qualifying standard and the third-fastest mark in the country.
Fellow sophomore Sara Haley became the fifth LSU athlete in individual competition to deliver a medal finish during the meet as she claimed bronze with a school-record mark of 1:56.82 in the 200 butterfly. Fellow flyer Cari Blalock touched right behind her teammate in that event to come in fourth with the second-best time in LSU history, 1:57.30. Sophomore Audrey Lawson also delivered points for the Lady Tigers in the 200 fly, racing to 12th (2:00.71) after qualifying in the prelims with a program top-10 time of 2:00.29.
Freshman Torrey Bussey continued her strong conference debut with another school record as she shattered the mark in the prelims of the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:11.89 to advance to the championship final. The Cary, N.C., native registered seventh in the final (2:12.31).
Sophomore Craig Hamilton swam to ninth-place in the men’s 1650 free with a season best of 15:14.96. Senior Luis Gonzalez contributed a pair of team points in that race with a 15th-place finish (15:40.25).
Junior Simon Diefenthal moved into second all-time at LSU in the 200 backstroke with his ‘B’ cut clocking of 1:44.95 to take 10th. Sophomore Nick Kunkel was 13th with another program top-10 time of 1:46.74.
Lady Tiger backstroker Jana Ruimerman also enjoyed a fine swim in her 200 back consolation final as she raced to 13th-place with a ‘B’ cut time of 1:57.14, second in program annals.
Sophomore Andrei Tuomola raced to 11th in the 100 free, touching in 43.88, while teammate Hannes Heyl was 16th (44.32).
In the consolation finals of the 200 breast, sophomore Sean Roddy swam to 12th (2:00.08) after qualifying with a program top-10 mark of 1:59.31, while freshman Emily Schwabe, who earned her first second swim with a program top-five time of 2:15.33, finished 15th with a 2:16.20 clocking.
The Lady Tigers closed out the meet with a fifth-place finish in the 400 free relay as the foursome of Jane Trepp, Kendall, Blalock and Samantha Goates posted a ‘B’ cut of 3:17.65. Trepp led off the relay with a personal best ‘B’ cut of 48.52, second in school history.
The LSU men’s 400 free relay of Tuomola, Heyl, Michael Saco and Clint Hallum was eighth (2:58.65)
Junior Martin Jungfleisch was the Tigers’ highest finisher in the 200 fly, placing 17th with a personal best and provisional mark of 1:47.11.
LSU will evaluate where their top swimmers stand in the national rankings before deciding whether to send any swimmers to a ‘Last Chance Meet’ from Feb. 26-27 at a site yet to be determined. The LSU diving corps will gear up for their NCAA Zone Diving Regional, which will take place from March 11-13 in Austin, Texas.
2011 SEC Swimming & Diving Championships
O’Connell Center Natatorium – Gainesville, Fla.
Feb. 11-13 (Diving), Feb. 16-19 (Swimming)
Men’s Final Standings
1. Auburn – 799
2. Florida – 782
3. Tennessee – 602.5
4. Georgia – 496
5. LSU – 271.5
6. Alabama – 271
7. South Carolina – 217
8. Kentucky – 199
Women’s Final Standings
1. Georgia – 720
2. Florida – 678
3. Auburn – 563
4. Tennessee – 466.5
5. LSU – 393
6. South Carolina – 252
7. Kentucky – 236
8. Arkansas – 210
9. Alabama – 195.5
10. Vanderbilt – 78
LSU Medal Finishes
Women’s 100 Breaststroke
Jane Trepp (58.94*) – Gold
Women’s One-meter Diving
Rebecca St. Germain (331.15) – Silver
Women’s 200 Medley Relay
Jana Ruimerman, Jane Trepp, Amanda Kendall, Samantha Goates (1:36.91) – Silver
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Amanda Kendall (47.90) – Bronze
Women’s 50 Freestyle
Jane Trepp (22.05) – Bronze
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Hannes Heyl (46.55) – Bronze
Women’s 100 Butterfly
Amanda Kendall (52.14) – Bronze
Women’s 200 Butterfly
Sara Haley (1:56.) – Bronze
Women’s 200 Freestyle Relay
Jane Trepp, Amanda Kendall, Kannon Betzen, Samantha Goates (1:28.98) – Bronze
* – SEC record