EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — Four members of the LSU women’s swimming and diving team are prepared to compete on Thursday in the opening day of the 2001 NCAA Championships here at the Nassau Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y.
“This is the moment that we have spent the entire season preparing for,” said LSU head coach Jeff Cavana. “Some of the world’s best swimmers and divers are competing here this weekend, and I’m extremely proud of our women that qualified for this meet. They have all been practicing very hard for this moment and I hope that they make the most of it.”
LSU’s competitors in this weekend’s three-day NCAA Championship meet are Michelle Coryell, Ashley Culpepper, Mandy Leach and Jamie Watkins.
Leach, the lone Lady Tiger swimmer at the championships, qualified to compete in three-different events. She is scheduled to race in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle competitions, as well as the 100-yard butterfly event.
Leach is currently the nation’s fifth-ranked swimmer in the 100 butterfly and the ninth-ranked competitor in the 200 freestyle.
Three Lady Tigers will be competing in this weekend’s diving events.
Watkins, the 2001 Southeastern Conference Diver of the Year, will look to defend her national championship in the 1-meter springboard event, while Culpepper, the 2000 National Diver of the Year, tries to repeat as the 3-meter champion.
“Both Ashley and Jamie have to be the favorites in each of the events that they won last season,” said LSU diving coach Scott Reich. “The platform competition will also be one of our strengths this weekend, because all three of our divers are capable of finishing in the top five, and the platform has been their best event this season.”
In the 10-meter platform event at the Zone B Diving Championships, Coryell accumulated a total score of 417.10 points to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships. Coryell’s mark of 417.10 was good enough for the fifth-highest score in the SEC during the season, while Culpepper led the conference with 498.00. Watkins recorded the SEC’s third-best score of the season in the platform event by netting 459.30.
Last season, the Lady Tigers finished the NCAA Championships with 84 total-team points and as the 16th-ranked team in the nation.
The 2001 Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will begin on Thursday at 10 a.m. (Central time) with the preliminary rounds of the 200-yard freestyle relay, 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley relay and the 1-meter diving trials. The final rounds of each event are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.