Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott
BATON ROUGE – The LSU women’s swimming and diving team lowered three LSU Natatorium pool records Friday night during the first session of racing at the team’s quad meet with Houston, Rice and Tulane. The Tigers lead all three dual meets heading into tomorrow’s events.
LSU Women’s Press Release
The LSU women’s swimming team set three pool records and lead Houston, Rice and Tulane after the first day of the quad meet.
The Lady Tigers 200-medley relay team of Caley Oquist, Colleen O’Neil, Amber Carter, and Leah Troskot set the pool record with a time of 1:39.19. It broke the previous record set by Tennessee this season.
Kara Kopcso also broke 17-year old LSU Natatorium records in the 100 fly and 200 IM. The sophomore finished with a career-best time of 52.91 in the 100 fly. Kopcso also finished with a time of 1:59.57 in the 200 IM.
“We set a challenge out to the women over the past few days to see if we could break some records on the board,” LSU Swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “It was a way to start off with some rhythm and it was exciting. For Kara to knock off some pretty old pool records was good movement toward the end of the season.”
Alex Bettridge swept the springboard events for the second consecutive week. The senior posted a score of 302.25 on one-meter and a score of 304 on three-meter. Cassie Weil also finished second on one-meter (285.60). Madison Sthamann finished third on three-meter (291).
“There were some things that we did really well,” LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “At this point in the season we haven’t put everything together and we aren’t peaking. I don’t expect us to peak so we have a mixed bag of performances today. We didn’t dive to our potential. I believe good things are going to happen though.
Freshman Jane MacDougall finished first in the 1000 free with a time of 10:00.21. It was the third-fastest time in LSU Swimming history. Jessie James also finished third with a time of 10:14.15.
“We’ve ben waiting for her the whole year,” Geyer added. “It paid off and it was exciting to have that breakthrough swim. It gives her confidence during the rest period and going to conference to know that speed will be there.”
Katlin Sepp and Danielle Stirrat provided a solid 1-2 effort in the 100 back with times of 55.21 and 56.47. Devon Dabney finished second in the 200 free with a time of 1:50.38.
O’Neil added a second-place finish in the 200 breast (2:17.85). She was followed in third by Taryn MacKenzie with a time of 2:22.81.
Carter and Troskot also went 2-3 in the 50 free with times of 23.38 and 23.47 respectively.
The team of Carter, Troskot, Danielle Stirrat and Caley Oquist then wrapped up day one with a win in the 400 freestyle relay (3:24.39).
“Going into tomorrow we have to match the excitement and enthusiasm that we had this evening,” Geyer added. “This matches what we have at conference. It’s going to be important to return tomorrow morning with some fast times.”
The Lady Tigers return to action at 11 a.m. for the final day of competition. Fans are encouraged to “Pack the Nat” and the first 200 fans will receive t-shirts.
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.
Houston Press Release
Junior Danielle Shedd earned a third place finish in the 1-meter dive, adding to Houston’s 15 top-ten finishes on the first day of the LSU Quad Meet on Friday evening at the LSU Natatorium.
After one day at the four-team dual meet style event, Houston trails No. 20 LSU by a count of 164-37, Rice by a score of 134-61 and Tulane, 118-83.
“We faced quite a few unexpected hurdles today, and it caused us to lose the focus we needed to swim and dive up to our potential,” said Houston interim head coach Keith Dawley. “Despite those obstacles, we made several good things happen tonight, and if we can come in focused and prepared tomorrow, we will have a much better showing.”
Overall, the Cougar diving team took four top-10 finishes in the 1-meter dive, led by Shedd with a score of 272.70. Redshirt Freshman Micaela Bouter finished fifth with a score of 264.70, followed by senior Natasha Burgess in sixth with a score of 261.10. Finishing eighth was sophomore Taylor Olanski, who netted a score of 249.10 on her dives.
In the 1,000-yard freestyle, sophomore Rachel Hobbins swam a time of 10:24.37, capturing sixth in the event.
Hobbins also took seventh in the 200-yard freestyle, with a time of 1:56.85. She was followed by teammate Michaela Hamrick, who swam 1:56.87 to take eighth.
In the 50-yard freestyle, junior Doroteja Bednjanec captured seventh, netting a time of 23.64. She also finished ninth in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.95.
Freshman Ashley Grijalva took fifth in the 200-yard breaststroke, in a time of 2:23.58. Finishing seventh and eighth in the event were sophomores Cameron Balkom (2:23.86) and Marissa Lehman (2:24.33).
In the 200-yard freestyle, freshman Sharo Rodriguez took 10th in her Houston debut with a time of 2:12.86.
The relay teams continued their ascent on Friday night. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the team of Bednjanec, Owens, Hamrick and Moore finished sixth with a time of 3:35.03. In the 200-yard medley relay, the team of Williams, Grijalva, Derevyanik and Bednjanec finished seventh, swimming the race in 1:46.98.
“We showed some glimpses of what we want to see in a couple of weeks in Greensboro,” Dawley added. “I’m looking forward to seeing us put the finishing touches on our races tomorrow as we prepare for the American Championships.”
The Cougars are back in the water tomorrow for the last day of the LSU Quad Meet. The first event starts at 11 am.
Houston, Rice, Tulane vs. LSU Dual Meet – Results