BATON ROUGE, La. – Junior Kara Kopcso was named the Southeastern Conference Female Athlete of the Week and swimmer Thomas Smith was named the SEC Male Freshman Athlete of the week after their performances against Missouri, the league announced Tuesday.
Kopcso swept the 100 and 200 fly and took first in the 200 IM Thursday at the LSU Natatorium to the lead the Lady Tigers to a victory over No. 19 Missouri. The Mandeville, Louisiana native has yet to lose an event in dual meet action this season. This marked the second time this season and the fifth time in her career that Kopcso has won an SEC award.
Smith continued to impress for the men’s team as he won and set the pool record in the 200 back with a time of 1:43.92. The Huntington Beach, California native also finished second in the 100 back and 200 IM against Missouri. Smith is the first LSU male freshman athlete to win the award since swimmer Andrei Tuomola did it in 2010.
The LSU swimming and diving team returns to action for the final SEC dual meet of the season against Texas A&M at 11 a.m. Saturday. Prior to the meet, the coaching staff will honor the team’s senior class. Admission is free and the first 200 fans will receive free t-shirts.
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