BATON ROUGE — Six student-athletes from the LSU Swimming and Diving program received recognition from the Southeastern Conference for their excellence at the conference meet.
Both squads finished in fifth place. The men’s team finished the SEC Championships in the top-five in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1998-99 and 1999-00 campaigns. Similarly, the women have enjoyed the finest two-year run within the conference since the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons.
“When the conference goes ahead and recognizes athletes for their performances, it lets the conference, our team, recruits and the school know that we are bringing in athletes here that are competing at the level that is going to be recognized by our conference,” Swimming Coach Dave Geyer said.
Junior swimmer Amanda Kendall and sophomore diver Daniel Helm were named to the Second Team All-SEC after their silver medal performances. Four rookies, Alex Bettridge, Marlene Niemi, Frank Greeff and Michael Young all earned Freshman All-SEC honors for finishing as the highest placed freshman in their individual events.
“Any time you make a first team, second team or all-freshman team, or a freshman of the year or athlete of the year, it is a great honor in the SEC,” diving Coach Doug Shaffer said. “The SEC is one of the strongest swimming and diving conferences in the country. Any time you get recognized with an award like this based on your performances at the SEC Championships, it means you are standing out with the nation’s elite.”
Kendall cranked out second place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyles. The Fairfax, Va. native received two individual medals for the second consecutive season and now has six total in her career.
The junior set the LSU program record with a second place performance in the 50 free (21.92). She notched a 100 freestyle mark of 47.97 after taking first in the prelims with a mark of 48.27.
Helm posted his one-meter lifetime best score of 376.55 in a second place showing, which placed him second all-time in the program’s history.
Alex Bettridge, the SEC Female Freshman Diver of the Year, recorded a bronze medal finish (336.85) in the three-meter springboard. She shattered the program’s three-meter record as well.
Frank Greeff surprised the field with a bronze medal in the 200 fly (1:45.03) after putting up the seventh fastest qualifying time. Greeff was the only newcomer in the 200 fly final and his mark of 1:45.03 was the second fastest time in the program’s history.
Marlene Niemi sliced her way into her first ever ‘A’ Final in the 50 free and finished eighth with a career low time of 22.56, which is fifth all-time for the program.
In the 100 backstroke, Michael Young made his first career A final in a sixth place finish. The Sydney, Australia native posted a career low time of 48.16, which is the fourth fastest time in LSU history.
Complete list:
Women’s First Team All SEC
Vennie Dantin, Auburn
Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Auburn
Hannah Riordan, Auburn
Emily Bos, Auburn
Haley Krakoski, Auburn
Megan Fonteno, Auburn
Elizabeth Beisel, Florida
Shannon Vreeland, Georgia
Melanie Margalis, Georgia
Jordan Mattern, Georgia
Megan Romano, Georgia
Amber McDermott, Georgia
Wendy Trott, Georgia
Michelle McKeehan, Georgia
Courtney Forcucci, South Carolina
Jenny Connolly, Tennessee
Molly Hannis, Tennessee
Kelsey Floyd, Tennessee
Caroline Simmons, Tennessee
Tori Lamp, Tennessee
Lindsay Gendron, Tennessee
Men’s First Team All-SEC
Kyle Owens, Auburn
Stuart Ferguson, Auburn
Marcelo Chierighini, Auburn
Karl Krug, Auburn
James Disney-May, Auburn
Allen Browning, Auburn
Zane Grothe, Auburn
Drew Modrov, Auburn
Chris Manning, Auburn
TJ Leon, Auburn
Marcin Cieslak, Florida
Brad deBorde, Florida
Eduardo Solaeche Gomez, Florida
Martin Grodzki, Georgia
Doug Reynolds, Georgia
Nic Fink, Georgia
Ryan Helms, Tennessee
Mauricio Robles, Tennessee
Women’s Second Team All-SEC
Lauren Norberg, Auburn
Olivia Scott, Auburn
Jamie Bohunicky, Florida
Teresa Crippen, Florida
Natasha Fung, Florida
Maddie Locus, Georgia
Jessica Graber, Georgia
Lauren Harrington, Georgia
Kristen Shickora, Georgia
Amanda Kendall, LSU
Amanda Rutqvist, South Carolina
Men’s Second Team All-SEC
BJ Hornikel, Alabama
John Santieu, Auburn
Max Murphy, Auburn
Michael Arnold, Georgia
John Simmons, Georgia
Jared Markham, Georgia
Connor Signorin, Florida
Nicholas Caldwell, Florida
Jason Taylor, Florida
Matthew Norton, Florida
James Turner, Florida
Matthew Curby, Florida
Dan Wallace, Florida
Greg Ferrucci, Kentucky
Daniel Helm, LSU
Samuel Rairden, Tennessee
Commissioner’s Trophy
Men
Marcin Cieslak, Florida (60 pts)
Women
Elizabeth Beisel, Florida (60 pts)
All-Freshman Team
Women
Kaylin Burchell, Alabama
Angley Martinez, Alabama
Sarah Peterson, Auburn
Abby Duncan, Auburn
Natasha Fung, Florida
Patricia Regan, Florida
Alicia Matheiu, Florida
Molly Dubrasky, Florida
Amber McDermott, Georgia
Jordan Mattern, Georgia
Maddie Locus, Georgia
Nicole Vernon, Georgia
Lauren Harrington, Georgia
Megan Molnar, Georgia
Shannon O’Malley, Georgia
Lindsay Keahey, Kentucky
Alex Bettridge, LSU
Marlene Niemi, LSU
Annika Jonsson, South Carolina
Molly Hannis, Tennessee
Men
Jordan Lesser, Alabama
Fraser McKean, Auburn
Nicholas Caldwell, Florida
Carlos Omana, Florida
Eduardo Solaeche Gomez, Florida
Dan Wallace, Florida
Matthew Curby, Florida
Christian Homer, Florida
Matt Elliott, Florida
Nic Fink, Georgia
Jared Markham, Georgia
Michael Young, LSU
Frank Greeff, LSU
Cole Miller, South Carolina
Mauricio Robles, Tennessee
Tristan Slater, Tennessee
Ben Scheffer, Tennessee