LSU swimming and diving holds off Florida State

BATON ROUGE -- Behind a stellar performance from seniors Niko Dalman, Christoph Lubenau and Julius Gloeckner, the 19th-ranked LSU men’s swimming and diving team upended No. 18 Florida State Saturday, 159-141, in the LSU Natatorium, while Lady Tigers Katherine Noland and Vanessa Duenas paced the LSU women to a 166-134 victory.

Dalman tallied 18 crucial points with a sweep of the men’s one-meter and three-meter dives, and the German tandem of Lubenau and Gloeckner broke open a tightly-contested battle with critical victories in the 100-yard butterfly and 200-yard individual medley, respectively, to give the Tigers (4-1) their fourth dual-meet win in a row and second straight against top-25 teams.

Noland captured the 100 and 200 freestyle titles, and Duenas prevailed in the 200 butterfly and 200 IM to lift the Lady Tigers (3-2-1) past the Seminoles.

“First off, I want to give credit to Florida State,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “They are a strong team, and that meet was a boxing match. We came at them with a jab. They came back with a hook, and it went back and forth.

“We had a number of seniors who came out here and did what they needed to do. We still have a lot to do if we’re going to move forward as a team, but I’m very pleased with the outcome today.”

With the Tigers clinging to a six-point lead, Lubenau emerged victorious in the 100 fly, swimming past Florida State’s Jarryd Botha, the ACC’s top performer in that event this season, with a season-best time of 48.65 seconds, and senior Connor Farber took third-place. The 1-3 finish gave the men’s team some breathing room, and Gloeckner followed one event later with a first-place finish in the 200 IM (1:49.71) to secure the dual-meet victory.

“The men’s meet was going to come down to that 100 fly, and Christoph pulled it out,” Schmitt added. “I think you’ll see Lubenau and Botha race again at the NCAA Championships in March, and that’ll be fun to watch in the future.”

In addition to the efforts of Noland and Duenas, the women’s squad recorded wins in both relay races and received key contributions from Katie Gilmore, Jane Trepp and Morgan McGee.

Gilmore swam to victory in the 100 fly, touching the wall in 55.39. Trepp earned a victory in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:04.09, and McGee registered a win in her specialty, the 100 backstroke (55.61).

Sophomore Hannes Heyl also proved to be a valuable asset to the men’s squad as the two-time All-American posted wins in both the 50 free and 100 back. Gloeckner recorded another win with a first-place finish in the 200 fly (1:50.75), and Farber topped the 100-freestyle field with a mark of 45.58.

Dalman’s victories in the one-meter and three-meter dives gave him his second consecutive sweep of the springboard events. The Tigers’ two-time All-American also seized the one-meter and three-meter titles against No. 24 Kentucky on Wednesday. Moreover, freshman Brian Gemberling notched a season high in the three-meter with a score of 322.65 to place third.

“Niko’s sweep of the springboard events against Kentucky and Florida State highlighted a great week for us as a group,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “We’re pretty tired after coming off the Tennessee Diving Invitational, Kentucky and now, Florida State, so for him to come through like that is a great confidence builder and something that is really good to see moving forward.”

The LSU swimming diving teams return to the pool on Jan. 17 for Senior Day against Delta State, and the program will honor all 19 seniors prior to meet.

Florida State Swimming And Diving Loses A Pair Of Tight Contests To LSU
The Florida State swimming and diving team was swept by LSU on Saturday in Baton Rouge, La.  The men were defeated 159-141 while the women lost 166-134.
 
"We had some great swims and nine times out of ten those results would win this meet," FSU head coach Neil Harper said.   "LSU always pulls out the stops against us and I thought we competed well considering how hard we have been training."
 
The Seminole men (6-3, 1-1) were led by fifth-year senior Kyle Young and junior Andy Hodgson, who each won a pair of events.  Young won the 1000 free (9:19.94) and 500 free (4:30.92) and Hodgson was victorious in the 200 free (1:39.84) and 200 back (1:46.57).  The Seminoles also swept the breaststroke events with junior Scott Thacker winning the 100 breast (56.01) and sophomore Rob Holderness earning the win in the 200 breast (2:02.18).
 
"Those guys are talented enough to keep winning events even when they're tired," Harper said.  "When we stepped up and won events it was impressive."
 
On the women's side Florida State (7-5, 2-1) was paced by sophomore Holly Mills who took home victories in the two distance events, the 1000 free (10:08.23) and 500 free (4:58.53).  The Garnet and Gold also swept the diving events with sophomore Katherine Adham winning the one-meter (269.70) and junior Katie Sirounis winning the three-meter (286.80).
 
I'm encouraged and I'm excited with how we competed," Harper said.  "In swimming you are alone in your lane and can only control how you swim and I thought we were strong today."
 
Florida State will return home to face ACC rival Clemson on Saturday, January 17, at the Bobby E. Leach Center at 11:00 a.m.