LSU Tigers Hold Lead After Day 1

HOUSTON, Texas. THE LSU women's swimming and diving team posted a 111-74 lead over Houston after Friday's events in a two-dual day double-dual meet between the Cougars and Rice at the UH Campus Recreation Center.

The Owls hold advantages over the Lady Tigers and Houston with six victories on Friday. LSU trails Rice by a narrow margin of 96-87, heading into Saturday's schedule.

Nine more swimming events and 3-meter diving wrap up the meet, beginning at 11:30 a.m.

"We're only trailing by nine points, so we will see whether the true spirit of this team comes through tomorrow," said head coach Adam Schmitt. "You can have an off-session one day but you have to build on your results and recover the next day."

The Lady Tigers gathered pivotal first and third-place finishes in the final event of the day, the 400 freestyle relay. A day after setting an LSU Natatorium record in the 200 free relay, the Lady Tigers' 400 squad of Katherine Noland, Katie Gilmore, Sabrina Messmer and Heather Brand won with a clocking of 3:27.00.

LSU's "B" team of Mallory Neltner, Monica McJunkin, Nele Trepp and Jamie Wright finished off a 13-point swing with the third-best time of 3:35.55.

"The last relay was huge for us," said Schmitt. "We really executed well on our technique. We can use this last swim as a momentum builder for tomorrow."

Brand, a team co-captain, also did her part in the 100 butterfly, winning and capturing nine points with a time of 56.02. Wright was fourth in the event, touching the wall at 59.61.

Noland defeated the Cougars and placed second overall in the 200 freestyle (1:51.88). Berit Aljand and McJunkin were part of a 2-3 finish in the 100 backstroke, posting times of 58.00 and 58.18, respectively.

Noland later concluded a valuable individual performance as part of the Lady Tigers' 3-4-5 finish in the 50 free sprint. She was third overall in the event with a time of 23.93.

Sarah Bedell and Michelle Hanson also earned 2-3 finishes toward LSU's tally in the 200 breaststroke. Bedell was clocked with a time of 2:25.13, while Hanson finished at 2:27.32.

Clare Schepens finished fourth overall in the 1650 freestyle (17:31.36), the first time the event had been swam since the Texas A&M Invitational.

Stefanie Carver was LSU's highest finisher in the 200 IM with a fifth-place swim of 2:10.28.

McJunkin, Bedell, Brand and Gilmore opened the dual with a 200 medley relay clocking of 1:46.08 to score second overall.

In 1-meter diving, Hali Saucier placed third with a score of 267.08, and Alyson Thomas captured fourth with a mark of 227.40.

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