The Lady Tigers finished the season with their highest finish at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships since 2001.A week later, the No. 17 Tigers head to the men’s championships expecting similar results.The Tigers head to the Texas A&M Student Rec Center Natatorium with hopes of a top-20 finish.LSU placed 29th last season with five swimmers who competed in six events.The Tigers send five swimmers and one diver to Texas A&M this year, but the Tigers are entered in more events this season.   LSU senior Christoph Lubenau leads the charge for the Tigers. “In dual meets when we needed a win, he’d pull it off,” said LSU coach Adam Schmitt. Lubenau was the only LSU athlete to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA championships.But the Leizpig, Germany, native, said he wanted to make sure his teammates made it too. “It is like extra motivation,” Lubenau said. “It is not just you racing there. It is you racing for your team.”He helped the Tigers’ 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays qualify for the NCAAs.  “I just think the more guys go, the more fun it is going to be,” Lubenau said.Lubenau transferred to LSU after starting his college career at Eastern Carolina University. “I kind of decided late to go to college in the U.S.,” Lubenau said. “It was around this time in March or February, so there wasn’t much scholarships left at bigger schools — schools like LSU — so I had to take what I was offered.” He said he chose LSU because both the academics and athletics were superior to ECU.”He could see that we had been improving over the years and that we were a program where he could come fit in and be a player right away,” Schmitt said. Lubenau placed ninth, the highest of any LSU participant last season, in the 100-yard butterfly last season at NCAAs.Lubenau’s qualifying time of 45.99 seconds gives him the 11th seed in the event this year. He finished fourth in the event at the Southeastern Conference championships.”It was sad that he couldn’t get a medal, being a senior at his last SECs,” said sophomore Jane Trepp. “But he can go faster in the NCAAs.” Senior Julius Gloeckner qualified for two individual events after missing last years NCAAs.Gloeckner will swim the 200- and 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard butterfly. He is seeded 13th in the 400 IM.   Senior Brandon Selts qualified for the 50-yard freestyle. Selts was a member of the Tigers’ 200 frees relay team that earned All-America honors at last years NCAA’s. This year’s 200 free relay team is seeded 13th.Sophomore Hannes Heyl makes his second trip to NCAAs. Heyl qualified for the 100-yard backstroke, 100 fly, 100-yard freestyle — the same three events he qualified for in last years NCAAs. Heyl finished 24th, 16th and 43th at last year’s NCAAs in those events, respectively.His seed times are all faster than what he swam at last year’s NCAA events. The 400 free relay team is seeded 16th. Senior Niko Dalman is the lone diver representing LSU. He makes his third trip to NCAAs and will compete in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform diving events.Junior Sean LeNeave heads to the NCAAs as the Tigers’ other relay swimmer.—-Contact Amos Morale at [email protected]