Swim teams finish fifth, eighth at SEC’s
A hot start in the cool pool water did not add up to results for the LSU swimming and diving teams at the 2002 Southeastern Conference Championships at the Arkansas Natatorium in Fayetteville, Ark., this past weekend.
After leading at the end of last Wednesday’s events, the women’s team managed to finish fifth overall while the men’s squad came away with an eighth place finish.
LSU’s women finished with a 312-point total.
Leading LSU was the solid performance of swimmer Mandy Leach. Leach, a two-time All-American for the Tigers, swam a career- and season-best time of 49.83 in the 100-yard freestyle, good enough for fifth place and a “B” cut of the NCAA qualifying standard.
Sophomore Stephanie Smith placed seventh in the 1650-freestyle. A 17:31.08 time gave Alice Hardesty a 22nd place finish.
The 400-yard freestyle relay squad also did well on the women’s side. The team, composed of Julie Hughes-Johnson, Donna Leslie, Leach and Dawn Coy finished in seventh place with a 3:25.02.
Ross Buffington placed 11th in the 1650-free. An LSU record-holder in the event, Buffington came up with a 14:45.50 time. Myles Jaynes and Jan Minartz finished 15th and 18th, respectively, in the event.
Meanwhile, Chris Stanczyk came up with a time of 45.06 in the 100-yard freestyle, good for 13th place.
Cindy Martinez placed 16th with a time of 2:05.97 in the 200-yard backstroke consolation final. Senior All-American Steve Gluck also placed 16th in the 200-yard men’s breaststroke consolation final with a 2:14.20.
Meanwhile, sophomore Laura Jo Leininger scored a time of 2:05.86 in the 200-yard butterfly. The time was good enough for 16th place in the event.
However, there were many disappointments for the Tigers.
Among them was the women’s 200-yard breaststroke, which did not even advance to the finals. In addition, the men’s 200-yard backstroke failed to qualify for the finals. Ditto for the men’s 200 fly squad that could not manage to fill out the final field.
Next on the slate for the women’s swimming and diving squad will be a trip to the Lone Star State and the Texas Invitational in Austin, Texas, March 1-2.
Chris Gibson