AUBURN, Ala. — Junior All-American Stephanie Smith and sophomore diver Jessica Wantz each competed for LSU on Friday at the 2003 NCAA Division I Swimming and Diving Championships at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center in Auburn.
Smith swam in the 500-yard freestyle and placed 29th in the preliminaries with a time of 4:50.22. Smith, a 2002 All-American in the 1650-yard freestyle, placed 44th in the prelims of the 500 last season. She will swim in the 1650 on Saturday.
Wantz placed 17th in the preliminaries of the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 260.50. Wantz, making her NCAA Championships debut, will also dive in the 3-meter competition on Friday. Houston All-American Yulia Pakhalina won the event with a finals score of 339.70.
The Championships continue on Friday with eight more events. Preliminaries begin at 11 a.m. and then the finals at 7 p.m. The prelims in the 3-meter diving starts at 1 p.m.
Junior Laura Jo Leininger will swim in the 100-yard butterfly on Friday, senior Cissy Schepens in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Wantz and All-American Barb Gorst will each compete in the 3-meter diving competition.
The NCAA Championships wraps up on Saturday. Host Auburn currently leads the competition after one day with a score of 168.5.