LSU Splits With Alabama

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, November 10. IN one of the most exciting home dual meets in school history, the LSU swimming and diving teams split its Southeastern Conference showdown with Alabama on Friday at the LSU Natatorium.

The Lady Tiger women downed the Crimson Tide by a score of 163-137 behind three 1-2-3 finishes, six individual victories and a sweep of both relays and diving events.

Meanwhile, the LSU men gave No. 21 Alabama all it could handle by turning in perhaps its best dual meet SEC performance in years. The Tide men needed a 1-3 finish in the final race of the meet — the 400 freestyle relay — to hold on to a 151-149 victory.

With the win, the LSU women improved to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in SEC action. In a series that in years past had been dominated by Alabama, the Lady Tigers knocked off the Crimson Tide for the second straight season for the first time since 1998-99.

Head coach Adam Schmitt credited the team's performance to the support from the parents, fans, administrators and LSU cheerleaders in attendance.

"The excitement and atmosphere in this building today was incredible," said Schmitt. "It was the best support we have seen since we have been here. This is what it is all about. It displays the positive direction our program is heading."

The energy level of the fans certainly contributed to the times and scores that were produced on Friday. Two pool records fell and several Tiger swimmers posted lifetime and season bests.

Heading into the final event on the men's side, the team that produced a first and third- place finisher in the 400 free relay would win the meet. LSU's squad of Miko Malberg, Connor Farber, Christoph Lubenau and Julius Gloeckner cruised to victory with a time of 3:03.74.

Following the Tide's second-place finish, Alabama edged LSU's "B" team by .33 seconds to take third place and ultimately the dual meet.

The LSU women closed its portion of the meet with a win in the 400 free relay. Katherine Noland, Colleen Bertirotti, Katie Gilmore and Sabrina Messmer raced past the Tide and posted a clocking of 3:25.10.

Berit Aljand, Signe Larson, Bertirotti and Messmer opened the competition with a victory in the 400 medley relay, winning by a five-second cushion (3:49.68).

"Sabrina really stepped up today," said Schmitt. "She understands her role on this team and has embraced that final portion of the relays."

Gilmore began an LSU sweep of the top three spots in the women's 100 backstroke with a time of 57.90, followed closely by Aljand and Stefanie Carver. She later led the Tigers to another 1-2-3 finish with a solid first-place swim of 23.48 in the women's 50 free. Bertirotti was second (23.77) and Messmer was third (24.07).

Noland, who tallied three wins against No. 2 Florida on Thursday, added to her collection with another victory in the 100 free (51.13).

Freshman Signe Larson notched another season-fast mark with the sixth-fastest 100 breaststroke time in school history (1:04.20). Aljand and Carver finished 1-2 in the 200 back with times of 2:04.76 and 2:06.30, respectively.

On the men's side, Julius Gloeckner responded with three more crucial wins taking first in the 200 free (1:39.99), 200 butterfly (1:51.12) and the 200 individual medley (1:52.01).

None were bigger than his win in the 200 IM, enabling LSU a chance for an upset of the nation's 21st-ranked team.

"We did what we had to do to put ourselves with a chance to win," said Schmitt. "As a coach, that is all you can ask for. I was very proud of our team."

Senior Kevin Braud added to LSU's total with a sweep of both men's backstroke events. Braud swam a time of 49.79 in the 100 back, while touching the wall at 1:50.28 in the 200 back.

Alabama's Vlad Polyakov shattered an LSU Natatorium record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 53.34. Polyakov, the nation's top breaststroker, broke his mark of 53.63 recorded in a dual meet against the Tigers in 2004.

However, nearly every time the Crimson Tide earned wins, LSU responded with two finishes in the top three of nearly every race down the stretch.

Lubenau, Farber and Braud went 1-2-3 in the men's 100 fly led by Lubenau's first-place time of 50.48.

In diving, freshman Rachel Ware was brilliant on Friday with a sweep of both events. The Richmond, Texas, native captured the 1-meter with a score of 281.40 followed by a first-place mark of 310.58 in the 3-meter.

Senior Hali Saucier, who broke the 3-meter school record against the Gators on Thursday, finished second in both events.

Sophomore Nathan Schreiber edged Alabama's Aaron Fleshner in the 1-meter (302.84). Senior Andrew Keane was the Tigers' highest finisher in the 3-meter, taking second with a score of 323.03.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use