GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Sophomores Kara Kopcso and Colleen O’Neil each won two events but it wasn’t enough to defeat the Florida Gators on Friday afternoon in the O’Connell Center Natatorium. The Florida men defeated the Tigers 162.5-122.5 while the Lady Tigers suffered a 166-134 loss to the women’s team.
Kopcso notched wins in the 200 fly (1:58.34) and the 200 IM (2:01.63). The Mandeville native also finished second in the 100 fly with a time of 55.35. O’Neil swept the breaststroke events on the women’s side. In the 100 breast she finished with a time of 1:02.52 and finished in 2:18.34 in the 200 breast.
“It was a solid meet for our women and I’m proud of how they raced through the entire meet,” LSU Swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “Heading into the meet we knew where our strengths were in our line up and where there’s were. We definitely left some points out there that would have made this meet really interesting.”
Junior Cassie Weil and transfer Andrew Suchla also took home wins on three-meter and one-meter respectively. Weil won three-meter with a score of 318.68 and finished second on one-meter with a final score of 269.56. Suchla finished second on three-meter (315.00) and finished with a score of 308.40 on one-meter, which is enough to qualify for NCAA Zones.
“I was really proud of how we competed today,” LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “Cassie had a great showing on three-meter and missed a couple of dives on one-meter. I also liked how Andrew performed in his first dual meet for us with an NCAA zone score.”
In the women’s swimming events, Amber Carter finished first in the 100 fly (53.89). The senior also touched the wall second in the 50 and 100 free with times of 22.91 and 50.29.
Sophie Weber also provided two quality second place finishes in the 200 fly (1:59.88) and 200 IM (2:02.04).
Junior Caley Oquist finished second in the 100 back with a time of 54.89 and third in the 200 back with a time of 1:58.31.
“To come into Gainesville and swim against a traditionally strong program like Florida definitely sets the tone for upcoming meets for us,” Geyer said. “There are some details within our races that will certainly be ironed out for future meets that only competition can show.”
Brandon Goldman notched the only win for the men’s team in the 200 back with a time of 1:49.48. The sophomore finished second in the 200 IM (1:53.07) and third in the 200 fly (1:49.78).
“Brandon put together three great races for us and it’s fun that he’s growing into a new event with the 200 fly,” Geyer added.
Senior Frank Greeff finished second in the 200 fly with a time of 1:48.97. The captain also finished third in the 100 fly with a time of 49.89.
Alex Linge finished second in the 100 free (46.20) and freshman Damen Pheiffer provided a nice second place finish in the 200 free with a time of 1:41.92. Marco Gonzalez also finished second in the 50 free (20.97) and third in the 100 free (46.78).
Senior Michael Young touched the wall second in both backstroke events with times of 49.98 and 1:49.80.
The women’s team returns to action next week when they travel to Dallas, Texas for the SMU Classic. The men’s team takes a couple weeks off before traveling to Tuscaloosa, Alabama with the full squad to take on Auburn and Alabama.
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