LSU Women, Virginia Tech Men Win At Tri-Meet

Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott

The No. 24 Louisiana State (LSU) women’s swim team improved their record to 8-0 with wins over the No. 23 Kentucky Wildcats and Virginia Tech Hokies in this weekend’s two-day tri-meet.

On the men’s side, Virginia Tech won the meet. Though Kentucky could not outscore the Hokies, the Wildcats did knock off LSU to finish second. This gave the Wildcat men their first Southeastern Conference head-to-head win since 2009.

The LSU Tigers were led by Kara Kopcso. The junior earned individual wins in the 200-yard butterfly (1:56.94), 100-yard butterfly (53.91) and 200-yard individual medley (2:01.21).

Kopcso also was a member of three winning relay teams. She swam butterfly in the 400-yard medley relay and teamed up with backstroker Danielle Stirrat, breaststroker Colleen O’Neil and freestyler Leah Troskot to touch first in 3:42.64. The LSU women also took the win in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:41.93. The team consisted of backstroker Haylee Knight, O’Neil, Kopcso and Troskot.

The Tigers were equally successful in the freestyle relays. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Troskot, Knight, Megan Cox and Stirrat posted a time of 3:21.74. The Tigers also picked up a win in the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 7:21.15. The team consisted of Troskot, Kopcso, Stirrat and Cox.

“The women came in today with control over the meet and refused to let up,” LSU coach Dave Geyersaid said in a press release. “The intensity from their racing over the three sessions will pay big dividends when it comes to conference time.”

Drew Aviotti had a strong meet for the Kentucky men. The junior took first in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 15:23.28. He was also third in the 500-yard freestyle, touching in 4:30.82.

The Wildcats were also helped by junior Kyle Higgins. Higgins won the 200-yard butterfly in 1:47.12 and took second in the 500-yard freestyle (4:30.33). He also helped Kentucky to a win in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of Sean Gunn, Scott Crosthwaite, Higgins and Isaac Jones touched first in 6:40.14.

Danielle Gayler picked up two individual victories for the Kentucky women. She won the 200-yard backstroke (1:56.88) and 100-yard backstroke (54.71).

Kentucky swims again on Jan. 23 against Louisville. LSU takes on Missouri next on Jan. 14.

Full Results

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