NEW ORLEANS — LSU divers Alex Bettridge, Cassie Weil and Allie Alter achieved NCAA Zone scores in a 220-80 win over Tulane Friday evening at the Reily Natatorium. LSU moved to 1-0 on the year while the Green Wave dropped to 0-2.
“Our girls did a really nice job today,” LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “We drove to New Orleans, got off the bus, warmed up and competed. The circumstances were not ideal, but the adversity and distraction forced us to focus. I’m proud of the way we rose to the challenge.”
LSU divers occupied the top four spots in the women’s three-meter springboard event. Weil earned her first win of the year handedly with a score of 348.22. Bettridge and Alter followed in second and third place with scores of 291.15 and 280.05 respectively.
The lone women’s senior diver, Bettridge, took home the win on one-meter with a score of 282.68. Weil and Alter followed in second and third place.
In her first collegiate dual meet, Madison Sthamann finished fourth on three-meter with a score of 271.80 and fifth on one-meter with a score of 230.78. Sophomore Katie Lagarde finished seventh on three-meter and sixth on one-meter.
It was also a dominating performance on the swimming side. LSU swimmers notched wins in 12 out of 14 individual events and swept the two relays.
“I thought we came in and did what we needed to do today,” LSU Swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “With the goals our program has, it’s important to enter a meet and compete at the highest level that we are capable of.”
Jane MacDougall started off the individual events with a win in the 1000 free (10:19.68), her first competitive collegiate swim. The freshman also finished second in the 500 free (5:05.60).
Stacey Stanfield took the win in the 500 free with a time of 5:03.00. Jessie James also highlighted the distance events with a second place finish in the 1000 free (10:20.57).
The 1000 free and 500 free were two of four events in which the Lady Tigers took the top three spots. The trio of Danielle Stirrat (1:51.31), Leah Troskot (1:53.71) and Devon Dabney (1:53.92) dominated the 200 freestyle. NCAA automatic qualifiers Amber Carter, Kara Kopcso and Caley Oquist also took one through three in the 100 fly with times of 54.21, 54.68 and 57.29 respectively.
Oquist, the program record holder in the 100 back, touched the wall first in the event with a time of 55.38. Sophomore Makenna Wilson (56.90) and freshman Kate Zimmer (57.09) followed in second and fourth place.
Colleen O’Neil provided a nice day for the Lady Tigers with a win in the 200 breast (2:18.57) and second place finish in the100 breast (1:02.84).
Sophie Weber touched the wall second in the 200 breast (2:22.16) and beat out Megan Cox in the 200 fly by almost two seconds (2:00.29) for a nice win.
Carter and Katlin Sepp took first and second in the 50 free with times of 22.97 and 24.03 respectively. Sepp notched a win in the 10th event of the evening, the 200 back, with a time of 2:00.50. Stirrat followed with a time of 2:01.38, which was enough for second place.
Kopcso wrapped up a win in the last individual event, the 200 IM, with a time of 2:04.14. Cox followed in second place with a time of 2:05.48.
The 200-medley relay team of Oquist, Taryn MacKenzie, Carter and Troskot took the win with a time of 1:42.71. The team of Carter, Troskot, Stirrat and Megan Cox also finished first in the 200 freestyle relay.
“We had a heavy week of training this week and this is a great gauge of how challenges in our cycles affect us. Our upperclassmen are really embracing the start of the season and guiding our freshmen into this time of the year,” Geyer added.
The full team travels to Gainesville, Florida for the first SEC dual meet of the year next Friday, Oct. 10. The Gator’s men team is the defending SEC Champions and finished third at last year’s NCAA Championships. The Gator women finished third at SEC’s last year and sixth at NCAA’s.
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