AUBURN, ALA.– The LSU Swimming and Diving Team dropped their first SEC dual meet of the season on the road against the Auburn Tigers. The men fell by a final score of 187-111 and the women fell 185-108.
IN THE POOL
Karl Luht led the way for the men as the senior won the 100 and 200-Yard Backstroke with times of 48.05 and 1:47.70, respectively. David Boylan brought home a victory after swimming a 1:50.15 in the 200-Yard Butterfly. The freshman also took the silver in the 200-Yard IM by swimming a 1:51.34.
Two other men found themselves with multiple top-three finishes Saturday morning. Brooks Curry finished in second place in the 200-Yard Freestyle with a time of 1:38.29. He then finished in third place in the 100-Yard Freestyle after swimming a 44.94. Luca Pfyffer had three top-three finishes on the day. Pfyffer brought home the silver in the 200-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 2:03.51 and had two third place finishes in the 100-Yard Breaststroke and the 200-Yard IM with times of 57.39 and 1:52.76.
“For the men’s first dual meet, I felt we came out a little tight,” said LSU head swim coach Dave Geyer. “Some of the details we emphasized in training were a little off. However, as the meet wore on, we improved in those areas and got to see what our lineup looks like. We came into the meet a little short on depth and that showed by having to move some people around. With that being said, we did have solid swims during the meet.”
For the women, Helen Grossman led the way as the New Jersey native won the 100-Yard Butterfly after touching the wall in 55.06. Grossman then finished in second place in the 200-Yard Butterfly with a time of 2:01.44. Niamh Robinson also earned a victory for the Lady Tigers as the freshman won the 200-Yard IM with a time of 2:04.55. Along with that victory, Robinson earned the bronze in the 100-Yard Breaststroke with a time of 1:03.87.
Three other Lady Tigers earned multiple top-three finishes. Katarina Milutinovich came in third place in both the 100 and 200-Yard Freestyle with times of 50.71 and 1:48.79. Cassie Kalisz earned the silver in both backstroke events. The junior swam the 100-Yard Backstroke in 55.13 and the 200-Yard Backstroke in 1:58.48. Summer Stanfield also had two top-three finishes as she came in second place in the 500-Yard Freestyle and third place in the 200-Yard IM with a time of 2:05.61.
To close out the meet, the team of Milutinovich, Olivia Taylor, Kit Hanley and Grossman won the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay with a time of 3:24.97.
“We had some really tight races across the meet on the women’s side today,” said Geyer. “If we could have had a couple of those races go in our favor I think you’re looking at a much closer meet.”
ON THE BOARDS
For the men, Manny Vazquez Bas finished the meet with two second place finishes on the springboard events. The freshman dove to a score of 355.28 on the three-meter and a 281.85 on the one-meter. Dakota Hurbis had two third place finishes after diving to scores of 328.43 and 267.00 on the three and one-meter, respectively. In his first collegiate meet, Cayden Petrak finished in fourth place on the one-meter with a score of 264.00 and fifth on the three-meter with a score of 290.18.
For the women, Aimee Wilson led the way as the sophomore came in second place on both springboard events. Wilson dove to a score of 292.80 on the one-meter and 300.00 on the three-meter. Hayley Montague took the bronze on both events after diving to scores of 250.50 and 239.18 on the one and three-meter springboards.
“Coming into this meet, I felt Auburn would be strong on the boards,” said LSU head diving coach Doug Shaffer. “It’s their own pool and they have more experience. For three of our Tiger Divers it was their first SEC road dual meet experience. With that being said, it was a great learning experience for us. We did some really positive things which we’ve been working on and that’s exactly what I want to see right now.”
MORE INFORMATION
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