BATON ROUGE — Sophomores Julius Gloeckner and Katie Gilmore were named Most Outstanding Swimmers, and senior Hali Saucier was awarded as the Most Outstanding Diver as the LSU swimming and diving team held its annual postseason banquet last Saturday.
Head coach Adam Schmitt presented Gloeckner and Gilmore with the honors they earned by being the most significant contributors to the team at dual meets, the Southeastern Conference Championships and the NCAA Championships. Diving coach Doug Shaffer bestowed the honor to Saucier.
Gloeckner was also awarded with his two All-America honors in the 200 butterfly and 400 individual medley. For his career, the sophomore has been an All-American three times with one first-team award. He placed seventh in the championship final of the 400 IM at NCAAs.
Gilmore joined senior Colleen Bertirotti, sophomore Katherine Noland and sophomore Sabrina Messmer in receiving All-America honors in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays. All four helped lead the Lady Tigers to their highest NCAA finish since 2001 with 17th place.
LSU shattered both school records in the 200 and 400 free relays with times of 1:29.69 and 3:17.92, respectively.
Saucier became a first-team platform All-American with freshman Rachel Ware in their first NCAA Championships’ appearance. The two placed seventh and eighth, respectively with scores of 283.95 and 244.75. It marked the first time since 2001 that the Lady Tigers had multiple divers earn All-America status.
Ware and sophomore Christoph Lubenau each received the Newcomer of the Year Award after both enjoyed stellar debuts. Ware, who was 14th in the 1-meter, became only the third freshman in school history to earn multiple All-America honors and the first since 1998.
Lubenau qualified for NCAAs in his first season and posted the fourth-fastest 100 butterfly time in school history (47.38). He finished seventh in the 100 fly finals at the SEC Championships.
Messmer, junior Paige Brown and Gloeckner were all recognized with the Most Improved Award. Messmer qualified for NCAAs in only her second season as a vital part of the Lady Tigers’ school-record and All-American relays.
Brown was LSU’s highest scorer in the platform at the SEC Championships. She medaled in the event with a third-place finish (293.65) while leading the Lady Tigers to an overall runner-up finish. Brown tallied career-highs in all three events this season, and all three marks placed in the school’s all-time top 10.
Saucier and sophomore Connor Farber received the team’s Stripes Award for exhibiting inspirational leadership in the pool, weight room and classroom. Both were named to the SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll on Tuesday.
Farber took home his second honor when he and Bertirotti were recipients of the Hammer Award, presented to team members who demonstrated exceptional character in competition while putting the team first in all situations.
The evening concluded with remarks from Schmitt, who put the finishing touches on one of the most successful seasons in school history.