A number of athletes competed for LSU in the finals of the Southeastern Conference Championships and one was named All-SEC last week in Auburn, Ala. The top eight athletes in each race competed in the finals and the top two finalists were named All-SEC.
Senior diver Barb Gorst hoped to defend her SEC title for LSU in the platform competition; she fell just short of the victory, finishing in second place behind Kylee Wells of Tennessee. Gorst finished with a score of 451.15 while Wells scored 452.95.
“Barb Gorst blew away the competition in the prelims by about 50 points and did well in the finals but ended up just short,” said LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer. “She now knows what she needs to do the rest of the season in both the regional and at the NCAAs.”
In her first appearance at the SEC championships, sophomore Jessica Wantz finished seventh in the event finals of the women’s 3-meter diving competition. Wantz scored 484.10.
“Jessica missed her opportunity last year because she was sick, so for her to come out and be an SEC finalist her first time here is incredible,” Shaffer said.
Junior All-American Evan Martinec came away Friday with a second place finish in the final race of the 100-yard backstroke earning All-SEC honors. Martinec is the first LSU men’s swimmer to make All-SEC since 1998. Martinec won the preliminary race with a school-record breaking time of 46.98.
The LSU men’s 400-yard freestyle relay team of Francisco Paez, Chris Stanczyk, Matt Rucker and Mike Jotautas finished fifth in the event with a time of 2:59.11.
LSU’s lone male diver Kyle VanArsdall placed fifth in the men’s platform diving finals after scoring 448.65.
For the women, junior All-American Stephanie Smith finished in a time of 16:41.46 to place eighth in the 1,650-yard freestyle finals. Smith currently holds the LSU record in this event.
Senior Cissy Schepens finished eighth in the final race of the women’s 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.02.
“Overall this was a really good meet for both our men’s and women’s teams, and we are happy with the way a lot of our athletes performed,” said LSU head coach Jeff Cavana. “We still have a lot of opportunities left this season and we are looking forward to those, but the women really stepped it up today and it was a great effort by both teams.”
Both teams finished seventh overall.
The women will continue competition with the Texas-Bevo Invitational March 1 in Austin, Texas but the men do not compete again until March 8 when they will return to Auburn for the Auburn Invitational.