Columbia, Mo. – LSU ‘s Logan Rysemus and Cassie Weil each took home silver medals to lead the way for the Tigers at the 2016 Southeastern Conference Swimming and Diving Championships Thursday evening at the Mizzou Aquatic Center.
Rysemus’ 100 fly silver medal came in a school record time of 45.59. In addition to the school record, the junior also posted an ‘A’ cut. Rysemus owns the fourth-fastest time in the country and is one of only seven male swimmers to register an ‘A’ cut in the 100 fly.
“That was an incredible swim for Logan in his first SEC final,” LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “He maintained his composure and swam his own race. He was coming home like a freight train and split an incredible last 50. Walking away with a silver medal and solidifying that with an NCAA ‘A’ cut is awesome.”
Weil finished second on three-meter with a score of 372.55. The silver was the senior’s fourth SEC medal as a Lady Tiger and just .14 points off of breaking her school record score.
“The ladies were remarkable today,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “Cassie almost tied her school record. She rose to the occasion and took advantage of the moment. It was a pleasure to watch Cassie perform at a level that she competed at.
In the 100 fly, Kara Kopcso finished sixth with a school record time of 52.07. Kopcso now owns four school records, which is the most by any LSU athlete.
“Kara was able to put together a solid swim in her final,” Geyer said. “One of her personal goals for this season was to get the school record and with our approach to this meet I’m glad she got it.”
Jake Markham, Alex Linge and Danielle Stirrat all reached the championship finals Thursday night. It was Linge’s second consecutive appearance in the 100 fly ‘A’ final. Linge finished sixth in the event with a time of 46.36. Stirrat finished eighth in the ‘A’ final of the 200 free with a time of 1:47.26.
In his first championship appearance as a Tiger, Markham finished seventh in the 200 free with a time of 1:35.80. His time of 1:35.08 in prelims was enough for a school record. Markham has now broken the 200 free record twice this week.
“It was a great day for our teams,” Geyer added. “We talk about taking care of business in the morning to ease the pressure at night. Jake, Danielle and Alex put themselves into finals with their work this morning and gained great experience for the remainder of the week.”
Senior Sophie Weber posted a season-best time of 4:16.35 in prelims to reach the ‘C’ final of the 400 IM. In the night session, Weber finished fourth in the event with a time of 4:16.47.
Junior Leah Troskot touched the wall third in 1:46.71 during the ‘B’ final. Troskot’s time was enough for fourth on LSU’s top-10 list. Megan Cox finished fifth in the ‘C’ final of the event with a time of 1:47.24.
In addition to Weil’s performance on the boards, Allie Alter and Rileigh Knox provided huge scoring performances for the Lady Tigers. Knox registered a score of 276.80 for 18th place and Alter tallied a score of 270.05 for 20th place.
“The other remarkable performance was Rileigh Knox coming off of an injury,” Shaffer said. For her to step in and step out shows true heart and character.”
Brandon Goldman and Alarii-Levreault Lopez were both alternates in the 400 IM. In prelims, Levreault-Lopez set a personal best time of 3:54.67 to finish 26th overall. The freshman’s time is enough for eight on the top times list. Harrison Jones posted a time of 47.95 in prelims of the 100 fly for the ninth-fastest time in school history.
Devon Dabney clocked a time of 1:47.77 in prelims of the 200 free. Dabney’s time was seventh on LSU’s top times list.
The LSU women sit in seventh place with 337 points and the men are in ninth place with 288 points. The squad returns to action Friday with the 200 fly, 100 back, 100 breast, men’s platform and 400-medley relay.
Live results can be found at http://stats.mutigers.com/live/sec/ throughout the week’s events. Live video of both swimming and diving prelims and finals will be available on SECNetwork+ (Watch ESPN) each day.
A full recap will be available on lsusports.net at the conclusion of each day. 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.
Schedule of Events
Friday, February 19
200 Butterfly (Prelims)- 10 a.m.
100 Backstroke (Prelims
100 Breaststroke (Prelims)
Men’s Platform (Prelims)- 12 p.m.
200 Butterfly (Finals)- 6 p.m.
100 Backstroke (Finals)
100 Breaststroke (Finals)
Men’s Platform (Final)
400 Medley Relay (Finals)
Saturday, February 20
100 Freestyle (Prelims)- 10 a.m.
200 Backstroke (Prelims)
200 Breaststroke (Prelims)
Women’s Platform (Prelims)- 12 p.m.
1650 Freestyle (Finals)- 6 p.m.
100 Freestyle (Final)
200 Backstroke (Final)
200 Breaststroke (Final)
Women’s Platform (Final)
400 Freestyle Relay
*All times listed in CT.