LSU report
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The LSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams ended the 2012 SEC Championship in fifth place and with seven medal performers.
Auburn won its 16th straight SEC men’s title, while Georgia claimed its third straight women’s crown.
The LSU men finished in the top five in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons. Similarly, the women have enjoyed the finest two-year run within the conference since the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons.
“This is part of a growing program,” swimming coach Dave Geyer said in a university news release. “You want to establish that consistency from year to year and then try to build on that.”
Auburn (730.5), Florida (700), Georgia (521) and Tennessee (459) finished ahead of LSU with 426.
“We’re a young and youthful team and we had two seniors who contributed this year,” Geyer said. “Other than that we are not losing a lot of points going into next year. A lot of those freshman stepped up huge whether in relays or making finals.
“We’ll continue on the recruiting trail and make up some ground there. It is great to see the men’s team step up.”
The women’s team notched 347 points and finished behind Georgia (781), Tennessee (629.5), Florida (566) and Auburn (509.5).
“We’re just really proud of the men and women because each individual that came to this championship embraced the culture of this program,” diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “Tremendous individual success leads to team success when you put it all together. That is what we want to see with the program.”
Alex Bettridge became Shaffer’s sixth SEC Freshman Diver of the Year. She earned a bronze medal in the three-meter with a program best 366.85 and sixth in the one-meter with a total of 302.60, which was seventh best in the program. She also posted a 212.60 on the platform.
Junior Amanda Kendall grabbed her second silver medal of the SEC Championships. Juniors Craig Hamilton and Sara Haley and freshman Frank Greeff earned bronze medals.
They joined sophomore diver Daniel Helm, who took silver in the one-meter, Bettridge, who was third in the three-meter, and junior Andrei Tuomola who grabbed bronze in the 100 breaststroke.
Kendall earned silver in the 100 freestyle (47.97) after taking first in the prelims with a mark of 48.27. The Fairfax, Va. native received two individual medals for the second consecutive season and now has six total in her career.
Haley produced a bronze 200 butterfly swim for the second consecutive season.
Women’s tennis
LADY TIGERS TRAVEL TO SAN DIEGO: LSU begins a four-match road trip at No. 35 University of San Diego on Sunday at the Hogan Tennis Center.
Play is set to get under way at 12:30 p.m. CST.
LSU (3-2) is on a two-match win streak after a 6-1 victory over Tulane on Tuesday.
San Diego is 1-4 on the season.
“We need to keep working and come out with the same intensity we had against Tulane,” coach Tony Minnis said. “I think this team has the potential to be very successful if we can play with right attitude to continue improving.”
LSU holds a 2-1 all-time advantage over the Toreros, having won in both previous trips to the San Diego campus. San Diego took the most recent matchup in 2010 by a 4-1 score at a neutral site, David X. Marks Stadium on the Southern California campus.