BATON ROUGE, La. — The LSU Swimming and Diving team travels to College Station, Texas, to face Texas A&M in the final dual meet of the season. The meet begins Saturday at 11 a.m. and will be shown on SECNetwork+.
“We are excited to head to College Station and face Texas A&M,” LSU Swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “It’s going to be an awesome way to showcase our school as well as our sport on the SEC Network.”
The LSU women’s team sits at 20th in the latest CSCAA rankings. The Lady Tigers face tough competition in unbeaten Texas A&M. The Aggies are ranked fourth and are led by senior Sarah Henry. Henry owns the third-fastest 1000 free, seventh-fastest 200 IM and fastest 400 IM time in the country.
“On the women’s side, A&M is one of those rising powerhouses,” Geyer said. “They are a top five program in the country, and there are certainly some events where we match up really well. We can expect some really great races from our women on Saturday.”
Sophomore Kara Kopcso had a tremendous meet last time out for the Lady Tigers. Kopcso swept the fly events and took first in the 400 IM against Tennessee. Last season against Texas A&M, Kopcso swept the fly events and set a program and LSU Natatorium record in the 200 fly.
Megan Cox and Caley Oquist each took first in an event against the Lady Vols. Cox touched the wall first in the 200 free. Oquist finished first in the 100 back and third in the 200 back.
Senior Amber Carter touched the wall third in three events against Tennessee. Carter finished third in the 50 free (22.98), 100 free (50.96) and 100 fly (54.28).
Divers Cassie Weil and Alex Bettridge have had a lot of success at A&M’s Rec Center Natatorium. At the Art Adamson Invitational this year, Weil finished first on three-meter and Bettridge finished second on one-meter.
“We have a level of familiarity with Texas A&M after competing there many times,” LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “We are going to go in and be competitive. It will be a challenge on the road but that’s just preparation for the rest of the year.”
At the Tennessee Diving Invitational, Weil took first on platform, third on three-meter and fourth on one-meter. Bettridge finished second on one-meter and platform at the invite.
The LSU men are looking for a second-straight dual meet victory over Texas A&M. The LSU Natatorium was rocking last season when the Tigers pulled off the victory sparked by Frank Greeff. The now senior swept the fly events and finished second in the 200 IM.
“There’s no doubt that they will be ready for us,” Geyer added. “This matchup has always been competitive and getting the win in the dual meet last year was great for our program. I know they are going to be prepared for us and ready to swim fast.”
LSU also competed at the Art Adamson Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M, this year. The Tigers finished in second place and beat out the Aggies.
Three men finished second in the last dual meet against Tennessee; Logan Rysemus in the 100 back (50.39), Silas Dejean in the 100 breast (56.47) and Alex Linge in the 100 free (45.34). Grant Grenfell and Devin McCaffrey also finished third in the 100 back (50.90) and 50 free (20.73) respectively.
Diver Daniel Helm tied for second on three-meter with a score of 356.33 against the Vols. Helm also finished third on one-meter (321.90).
A full recap will be available on lsusports.net following the meet. For more information and updates on LSU Swimming and Diving please visit LSUsports.net, ‘like’ us on Facebook at LSU Swimming and Diving or follow us on Twitter @LSUswimdive.