LSU Sweeps Kentucky on Senior Day

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, January 5. THE LSU Men's Swimming team (3-1, 2-1 SEC) celebrated Senior Day with a 155-107 win over Kentucky at the LSU Natatorium.

“The senior meet is always an emotional meet,” Swimming Coach Dave Geyer said. “I think when it came down it, our men were able to focus. We had some good races. Kentucky had strengths in some spots that we knew they were going to come at us with. From top to bottom on the men's side we did a great job.”

The Lady Tigers (6-1, 3-1 SEC) completed the sweep with a 176-83 win over the Wildcats. The women's team will bid goodbye to the Lady Tiger seniors on Jan. 26 at the LSU Natatorium.

“I think coming off of the break and since our mid-season meet, we are in a pretty good spot only five or six weeks out of our conference championships,” Geyer said. “I was trying to see where we were at compared to that mid-season meet in our morning swim. We are swimming at that level now, which is exciting because we are nowhere near rest.”

Seniors Timmy Dasinger, Raymond DePadua, Craig Hamilton, Nick Kunkel, Andrew Muller, Chris Mericas, Andrei Tuomola and Zack Wepasnick all be competed at home for the final time.

Hamilton finished with a pair of victories in the mile and the 500 freestyle. The Edinburgh, Scotland native posted a season best mile time of 15:11.87.

“I was pleased with Craig's mile,” Geyer said. “We put a suit on for that. He was faster for that than he was at the mid-season meet. That is a good testimony to his fitness level. With some rest he should be back at that NCAA level.”

Both LSU teams started the meet with a first and third place finish in the 200 medley relay and victories in the mile. The Lady Tigers racked up 12 out of a possible 14 victories.

Senior Sally Wood (1:53.04), freshman Danielle Stirrat (1:53.16) and freshman Megan Cox (1:53.32) continued the momentum after the first break with a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 free.

Wood added another victory in the 400 individual medley with a mark of 4:24.43. Freshman Caley Oqusit chipped in a victory in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.66.

Junior Torrey Bussey swept the breaststroke events with a 100 breast time of 1:03.98 and a 200 breast time of 2:19.92. Bussey also swam the third leg of the first place 200 free relay team (1:35.45) that was led of by sophomore Amber Carter, junior Rainey White and freshman Rebecca Werdine.

In addition to Carter's victories in the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay, the Houston, Texas native registered a first place swim in the 50 free (23.20) and the 100 butterfly (55.34).

Senior Sara Haley notched a victory in the 200 fly with a mark of 2:01.51.

On the men's side, freshman Gabe Rooker swept the breaststroke events and swam the third leg of the first place 200 free relay team (1:23.93- junior Michael Saco, sophomore Michael Young and sophomore Frank Greeff). Rooker won the 100 breast with a time of 56.96 and the 200 breast with a time of 2:04.40.

Tuomola swept the sprint events with a first place swim in the 50 free (20.53) and the 100 free (45.84). Tuomola also earned a victory on the 200 medley relay squad.

Greeff touched the wall first in the 200 fly with a time of 1:50.13. Kunkel won the 200 back with a mark of 1:49.75.

Junior Shane Coltharp finished first in the 400 IM with a time of 4:04.81.

With the meet in hand, the eight Tiger seniors were split into to two groups of four for the 200 free relay.

The LSU divers are competing on the platform in the final day of the Tennessee Diving Invitational.

The entire LSU men's team will face SMU on the road next Saturday.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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