Three swimmers and two divers represented LSU at the women’s 2003 NCAA Championships at Auburn, Ala., last weekend.
Sophomore diver Jessica Wantz, who made her first appearance at the NCAAs, came away with the best performance of the LSU team. Wantz finished fourth in the 3-meter diving board competition to earn All-American honors for the first time in her career.
Senior All-American Barb Gorst placed 15th in the 10-meter platform event, which she won earlier this month at the NCAA regional qualifying meet. Gorst scored 372.80 in the event.
“Barb [Gorst] did not dive the way she is capable of diving tonight, but a 15th-place finish in the country is not anything to be ashamed of,” said LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer. “I am proud of both Barb and Jessica [Wantz] for their performance here this weekend, they both had excellent seasons and Barb had a great career,” Shaffer said.
In the swimming events, LSU record-holder in the 1,650-yard freestyle, Stephanie Smith, finished 20th with a time of 16:31.55.
Smith also swam the 500-yard freestyle and finished 29th.
Flavia Rigamonti, from Southern Methodist University, set a new pool record in the 1,650 yard-freestyle for the Martin Aquatics Center at Auburn. She won the event with a time of 15:43.90.
Senior Cissy Schepens ranked No. 16 in the 200-yard breaststroke going into the championships. She finished in a time of 2:15.53 to place 21st in the event.
Tara Kirk from Stanford set a pool record in the 200-yard breaststroke, winning the event in 2:08.79.
Junior Laura Jo Leininger swam the 200-yard butterfly in her first appearance at NCAAs and finished 35th with a time of 2:01.90.
A freshman from Georgia won the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:53.51.
The men’s NCAA Championships take place March 27-29 in Austin, Texas.