LSU PRESS RELEASE: Tigers Drop Meets to Florida

BATON ROUGE, Lousiana, January 12. TWO pool records fell Thursday as the LSU swimming and diving teams were defeated by nationally-ranked Florida in an SEC dual meet at the LSU Natatorium.

The seventh-ranked Gator men beat the Tigers, 166-116, while the No. 4 Florida women won, 158-140, over LSU. The Tigers did finish strong picking up a series of victories in the final three events.

"We had to wake ourselves up after a sluggish start," said head coach Adam Schmitt. "The second half of the meet was a lot better than the first in that we won some events."

The Lady Tigers' 200 freestyle relay team closed the meet with a victory paced by a Natatorium-record clocking of 1:34.99. The team of Katherine Noland, Heather Brand, Katie Gilmore and Sabrina Messmer took over the previous record of 1:35.46 set by Georgia in 1997.

"We saw that on the board but we didn't think that would happen today," said Schmitt. "That is a special accomplishment for them."

In the previous event, the Gators' Ryan Lochte claimed a pool record in the men's 400 individual medley. Lochte, the current SEC record holder, swam a time of 3:49.53, besting the previous mark of 3:51.04 set by Jerry Frentsos of Florida in 1986.

The Tigers did manage to carry last weekend's success at the Georgia Invitational into Thursday's diving events. Hali Saucier and Niko Dalman swept their respective events in brilliant performances.

"I saw today what I wanted to see heading into the rest of the season," said diving coach Doug Shaffer. "It was more of a response to last weekend at Georgia. We came in here with our first dual of the New Year wanting to defend the Tiger turf."

Dalman took home the 1-meter title with a tally of 328.35 and then won the 3-meter with 349.13 points. Both scores were career-highs for the sophomore and reigning All-American.

"Today was the best dual performance of Niko's young career," added Shaffer. "At this point last season, he was trying to learn. Now, he has become a fierce competitor."

Saucier, who earned third in the platform at the UGA Invitational, captured the 1-meter with a score of 272.70 and was part of an LSU sweep in the 3-meter with her tally of 313.27. Alyson Thomas was second (262.35) and Paige Brown took third (246.97).

Nathan Schreiber was the Tigers' next highest finisher, placing third in both men's events.

In the pool, Noland and Berit Aljand collected individual victories for the second consecutive meet. Aljand captured the 200 backstroke in a time of 2:01.68, and Noland won in the 100 freestyle with a clocking of 51.20. Noland also set a season-best time in the 200 free, swimming a mark of 1:51.24 to place second.

Miko Malberg took second in the 50 and 100 free with swims of 20.68 and 46.33, respectively. Malberg looked to have taken first place in both events but was defeated by .01 seconds to Darrian Townsend in the 50 free and Jos Smith in the 100 free.

Kevin Braud and Chris White picked up third-place honors on Thursday. Braud swam a time of 51.12 in the 100 backstroke and White went 58.22 in the 100 breaststroke.

The LSU squad splits for the weekend for a pair of road dual meets. The women travel to face Houston and Rice for a two-day meet beginning Friday at 4 p.m. The men face off against Delta State on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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