LSU vs. Delta State

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana, January 17. SENIOR diver Niko Dalman shattered a 14-year-old school record in the one-meter springboard, and the LSU swimming and diving teams swept the Delta State Statesmen Saturday afternoon to cap off Senior Day in the LSU Natatorium.

Following a pre-meet ceremony honoring the program's 19 seniors, the 18th-ranked men's squad (5-1) defeated the Statesmen, 151-78, earning its fifth consecutive win, while the Lady Tigers (4-2-1) swam to a 150-84 victory in the women's dual meet.

"Coming into this meet, all of the focus was on the seniors," LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. "It was really important to spotlight the seniors before the meet. It also gave us an opportunity to race some of our athletes in events they don't typically swim and to fine-tune ourselves for some of the tougher competition that we have coming up."

Dalman, a two-time All-American from Auburn, Wash., tallied 387.75 points on six dives in the one-meter to overtake former Tiger Kevin McMahon's record score of 368.25 set in 1995. The fifth-year senior now holds both springboard records at LSU and ranks second all-time in the platform competition.

"That was the best I've seen from Niko on the one-meter in his career," LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. "If he were to repeat that kind of performance at the NCAA Championships, he could finish in the top four and make a run at the national championship."

The Delta State meet gave the LSU coaching staff a chance to tinker with the lineup, and quite a few swimmers responded to the challenge in events they don't usually swim. Freshman sensation Morgan McGee, who specializes in the backstroke discipline, took advantage of her opportunity to race in the 1000 freestyle and 100 butterfly and emerged victorious in both events.

Senior Katherine Noland made a rare appearance in the 500 freestyle and also captured a victory, reaching the wall in 5 minutes, 4.68 seconds, the third-fastest time on the team this season.

Fellow seniors Katie Gilmore, Vanessa Duenas and Berit Aljand recorded victories on Senior Day. Gilmore secured the 200-free title, while Duenas topped the field in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:30.07. Aljand won the 100 backstroke in 58.95.

In addition, juniors Leigh Ann King and Lauren Grandy registered victories in the 50 and 100 freestyles, respectively.

One the men's side, senior Julius Gloeckner posted a pair of victories with solid times in the 400 IM (3:54.52) and 100 breaststroke (57.27). Sophomore Hannes Heyl also notched two wins with first-place finishes in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly, and senior Connor Farber seized the 50 free in 21.28.

Fellow senior Chris White swam to victory in a rare appearance in the 100 back, and freshman Ben Decker finished on top in the 100 free. Junior Sean LeNeave earned a victory in the 1000 free.

Dalman's record-setting performance was not the only highlight for the diving teams. Freshman Katie Lybbert enjoyed a fine outing, clinching a spot in the NCAA Zone Diving Regional with a three-meter qualifying score of 289.12, while Brian Gemberling and Matt Vieke improved both of their one-meter and three-meter marks, and Chelsea McCorvey scored a season-high 279.98 points in the three-meter.

Special thanks to LSU for contributing this report.

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