Auburn outperforms LSU Swimming and Diving

[Comment Below]

By Stephanie Kraft

Freshman swimmers Amanda Kendall and Craig Hamilton each shined with two victories apiece in LSU Swimming and Diving's loss to SEC rival Auburn last weekend. Auburn emerged victorious 167-133 in the men's meet, while the Auburn women won, 177-122.

Kendall took both the 50- and 200-yard freestyle for the Lady Tigers (0-2, 0-2 SEC) posting a personal best of 1 minute, 49.48 seconds in the 200 free and a season best of 23.33 in the 50 free. She also claimed runner-up honors in the 100 butterfly,

Hamilton gave the Tigers (0-2, 0-2 SEC) a pair of victories in the 500 and 1000 free for the second-consecutive meet. Hamilton improved his season best in the 1000 free with a time of 9:22.42 and touched the wall in 4:34.79 in the 500 free.

Both LSU squads had a strong start. LSU swept the men's and women's 200 medley relays. The women's foursome of Morgan McGee, Jane Trepp, Kendall and Samantha Goates delivered a winning mark of 1:43.23, while the men's team of James Meyers, Andrei Tuomola, Hannes Heyl and Sean LeNeave came away with a mark of 1:30.46.

LSU Freshman Sara Haley recorded her second win of the season in the 200 fly, beating out last year's conference runner-up in the event, Auburn All-American Ava Ohlgren, with a 1:59.47 clocking. In addition, fellow freshman Jana Ruimerman and junior Kannon Betzen claimed victories.

Ruimerman posted a personal best and NCAA B cut time of 1:59.07 in the 200 back. Betzen swam to victory in the 200 breaststroke (2:20.91).

On the men's side, Heyl, LeNeave and junior Clint Hallum collected wins in individual competition. Heyl registered the victory in the 100 fly (49.66), LeNeave won the 200 fly (1:51.52) and Hallum finished on top in the 200 individual medley (1:53.83).

Junior Luis Gonzalez contributed with runner-up honors in the 500 and 1000 free to help the Tigers secure 1-2 finishes in both events.

LSU sophomore Brian Gemberling qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Regional with his career-high score of 314.77, which earned him second-place. Freshman Rebecca St. Germain and Matt Vieke also tallied runner-up scores in the three-meter with marks of 280.13 and 305.78, respectively.

"I'm really proud of our teams," LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. "We had some people out today, particularly on the women's side, and we had some young athletes really step up. We had some great swims, and were going to continue to build on that. I think a lot of our athletes realized today that they can compete against anyone in the country."

The Lady Tigers are at home against Tulane on Friday, Oct. 30 at 3 p.m. (CT). The LSU men will return to action on Nov. 6 when they make their first road trip of the season to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the Crimson Tide.

Originally Published: Issue 821 - October 28, 2009

Share on Facebook

Back to the top