The LSU women’s swimming team set three pool records and lead Houston, Rice and Tulane after the first day of the quad meet.
The Lady Tigers 200-medley relay team of Caley Oquist, Colleen O’Neil, Amber Carter, and Leah Troskot set the pool record with a time of 1:39.19. It broke the previous record set by Tennessee this season.
Kara Kopcso also broke 17-year old LSU Natatorium records in the 100 fly and 200 IM. The sophomore finished with a career-best time of 52.91 in the 100 fly. Kopcso also finished with a time of 1:59.57 in the 200 IM.
“We set a challenge out to the women over the past few days to see if we could break some records on the board,” LSU Swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “It was a way to start off with some rhythm and it was exciting. For Kara to knock off some pretty old pool records was good movement toward the end of the season.”
Alex Bettridge swept the springboard events for the second consecutive week. The senior posted a score of 302.25 on one-meter and a score of 304 on three-meter. Cassie Weil also finished second on one-meter (285.60). Madison Sthamann finished third on three-meter (291).
“There were some things that we did really well,” LSU Diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “At this point in the season we haven’t put everything together and we aren’t peaking. I don’t expect us to peak so we have a mixed bag of performances today. We didn’t dive to our potential. I believe good things are going to happen though.
Freshman Jane MacDougall finished first in the 1000 free with a time of 10:00.21. It was the third-fastest time in LSU Swimming history. Jessie James also finished third with a time of 10:14.15.
“We’ve ben waiting for her the whole year,” Geyer added. “It paid off and it was exciting to have that breakthrough swim. It gives her confidence during the rest period and going to conference to know that speed will be there.”
Katlin Sepp and Danielle Stirrat provided a solid 1-2 effort in the 100 back with times of 55.21 and 56.47. Devon Dabney finished second in the 200 free with a time of 1:50.38.
O’Neil added a second-place finish in the 200 breast (2:17.85). She was followed in third by Taryn MacKenzie with a time of 2:22.81.
Carter and Troskot also went 2-3 in the 50 free with times of 23.38 and 23.47 respectively.
The team of Carter, Troskot, Danielle Stirrat and Caley Oquist then wrapped up day one with a win in the 400 freestyle relay (3:24.39).
“Going into tomorrow we have to match the excitement and enthusiasm that we had this evening,” Geyer added. “This matches what we have at conference. It’s going to be important to return tomorrow morning with some fast times.”
Junior Elizabeth Cook posted the Green Wave’s best individual finish with a fourth-place performance in the 100 back and fellow junior Mia Schachter led the squad in a pair of events as the Tulane University swimming and diving team opened the LSU Quad Meet with a solid effort on Friday evening at the LSU Natatorium.
Through 10 events, the Green Wave hold a 118-83 lead over fellow American Athletic Conference member Houston while trailing Rice, 128-65, and host LSU, 165-39. The two-day event will conclude on Saturday with the 400 medley relay, 500 free, 100 breast, 200 back, 3-meter springboard, 200 fly, 100 free, 400 IM, the 200 free relay and an unscored diving session on the platform with the action slated to begin at 11 a.m.
“Today was a mixed bag of results, although we are better than we were a year ago at this meet,” Tulane head coach Katie Robinson said. “Some of our swimmers are swimming very well and gaining confidence with each swim. I saw our women getting their hands on the wall first during close races which I was very happy to see. The general areas we need to improve include speed in the first half of our races and also we need to improve on our turns. As a team, we look to be more sharp tomorrow.”
Cook, who was named American Athletic Conference Swimmer of the Week on Wednesday, clocked a time of 56.82 in the 100 back and also led off Tulane’s 200 medley relay “B” team while swimming the third leg on the 400 free relay with the Green Wave’s “C” unit. Schachter, meanwhile, paced the Green Wave effort in the 100 fly with a 55.91 and in the 50 free with a 24.00 – finishing fifth in both events.
The quartet of freshman Tirol Palmer, Schachter, senior Amy Needham and rookie Kaitlin Simpson combined to finish sixth in the 200 medley with a mark of 1:46.79 and finish sixth, and the unit of freshmen Alex Lakota, Simpson and Emma Lincoln teamed with Schachter to finish fourth in the 400 free relay at 3:33.12.
Lincoln headlined Tulane in the 200 free with a sixth-placed 1:54.96 and junior Holly Grender clocked a team-best 2:08.57 in the 200 IM to finish fifth. Junior Roni Meyer topped the Green Wave with a 10:30.52 in the 1000 free to finish seventh, junior Lauren Arnold scored a team-leading 238.90 to finish ninth in the one-meter springboard, and sophomore Joy Jason paced the club with a 2:28.16 in the 200 breast to finish 12th.
Following the conclusion of the LSU Quad Meet, the Green Wave will close out the 2014-15 campaign at the American Athletic Conference Championship from Feb. 18-21 in Greensboro, N.C. The trip to the American Meet will be the first for the Tulane program after competing last season as a member of Conference USA. In their last conference championship, the Green Wave finished sixth among the nine competing teams.
The Green Wave finished with 463 points – 90 points better than their performance of a year ago, the third-highest total by the program in a conference meet and the most since Tulane scored 729 en route to winning the 2005 C-USA crown. Along the way, Tulane swimmers and divers combined to post 22 career-best performances among 35 season-best outings.
