LSU Wins All But One Event in Double Dual with Houston and Rice

HOUSTON vs LSU vs RICE (WOMEN’S DOUBLE DUAL)

• January 31st-February 1st
• Houston, TX
• Short Course Yards
• Results

TEAM SCORES

• LSU – 202, Rice – 89
• LSU – 211.5, Houston – 87.5
• HOUSTON – 155, Rice – 139

Houston hosted LSU and hometown rival Rice for an annual tri-meet at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, splitting the meet with a win against Rice and a loss to LSU. The Tigers swept the meet, also taking down Rice.

LSU won all but one event, the 1000 free, where Rice’s Shannon Campbell bested the field by 5 seconds. Campbell swam an excellent race, nearly even-splitting with a 5:04.69 on the first 500, and 5:05.84 on the 2nd 500. She was also very consistent, splitting every 50 outside of the first and last between 30.41 and 30.99.

LSU won both relays by considerable margins, first taking the 200 medley relay with a 1:41.71. Cassie Kalisz led that squad off in 26.13, followed by Olivia Paskulin in 28.27, Helen Grossman in 24.29, and Olivia Taylor with a 23.02. In the 400 free relay, Katarina Milutinovich led off in 50.18, followed by Grossman (51.42), Taylor (53.63), and Natalie Kucsan(49.10), for a 3:24.33. Kit Hanley led off the LSU B relay in 51.84, meaning the LSU A relay likely could have been a little over 2 seconds faster if Hanley had been on it.

Several members of LSU’s winning relays also won individual events. Helen Grossman also swept the fly events,  clocking a 54.23 in the 100 to touch the wall first by exactly a second. Her time was within a second of her season best of 53.42. Grossman also won the 200 fly with a 1:59.68, after taking the race out in a speedy 56.69. She was also within a second of her season best in that race (1:58.72).

Katarina Milutinovich won the 200 free and 100 free. In the 200 free, Milutinovich swam a 1:49.05 to touch as the only swimmer in the field under 1:50. She nearly even-split the race, spltting 54.07 on the first 100, and 54.98 on the 2nd 100. Milutinovich also won the 100 free with a 50.13, beating out Houston’s Mykenzie Leehy (50.51). Milutinovich secured the win by taking the race out faster than Leehy, splitting 24.12 on the first 50 to Leehy’s 24.50. Both swimmers then split 26.01 coming home.

Cassie Kalisz went on to sweep the backstroke events after winning the 200 medley relay. Kalisz posted a 54.96 to get her hand on the wall first in the 100 back. She then swam a 1:58.90 in the 200 back, marking the only sub-2:00 time in the field. Olivia Paskulin won the 100 breast with a 1:02.98, thanks to a speedy 29.37 on the first 50. Likewise, Olivia Taylor went on to win the 50 free with a 23.25, touching the wall first by half a second.

LSU’S Jolee Liles won the 500 free with a 4:55.79, beating 1000 champion Shannon Campbell (4:58.19). Liles came roaring home with a 58.14 on the last 100, after splitting 1:00.45 on the 3rd 100 and 1:00.10 on the 4th 100. LSU freshman Summer Stanfield won the 00 IM with a 2:03.05, thanks in large part to a quick 30.38 on the backstroke leg.

PRESS RELEASE – HOUSTON:

HOUSTON – The University of Houston Swimming & Diving team concluded meet action against No. 17 LSU and Rice on Friday afternoon at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center.

FINAL SCORES
FINAL RESULTS

Houston had a strong showing in its final dual meet action of the 2019-20 season, opening the day with a second-place finish in the 200 Medley Relay. Laura Laderoute, Peyton Kondis, Katie Higgins and Mykenzie Leehy finished at 1:42.74.

Zarena Brown finished second in the 200 Freestyle at 1:50.25 her first of a pair of top-five finishes on the day. Laderoute clocked a time of 55.44 for second-place in the 100 Backstroke to leads UH in the event.

In the 50 Freestyle, Leehy led the Cougars with a third-place finish at 23.78 as two Cougars turned in top-5 finishes. Rachel Hicks finished fifth at 24.06. Leehy also finished second in the 100 Freestyle at 50.51, leading Houston in that event as well.

Ioanna Sacha and Laderoute posted top-five finishes in the 200 Backstroke as Sacha finished second at 2:00.53, followed by Laderoute in fourth-place at 2:02.27.

Kondis notched a pair of top-five individual finishes, taking fourth-place in the 100 Breaststroke at 1:03.82. In the 200 Breaststroke Kondis finished fourth at 2:19.25.

The Cougars closed out the day with a second-place finish in the 400 Medley Relay. Brown, Rachel Hicks, Hanna Blewett and Leehy combined for a time of 3:27.14.

On the boards, Jolie Blodgett led the Cougars in the 1-meter with 272.55 points, for third-place. In the 3-meter, Lauren Burrell finished third with 284.18 points.

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PRESS RELEASE – LSU:

HOUSTON –  The LSU Women’s Swim and Dive Team defeated the Houston Cougars and Rice Owls on Friday night from the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston. The Tigers defeated Houston by a final score of 211.50-87.50 and Rice by a score of 202.00-89.00.

The Tigers will be back in action tomorrow for Time Trials starting at 10 a.m. CT.

IN THE POOL

A total of eight Tigers won 13 different events in route to the victory. Katarina Milutinovich, Cassie Kalisz, and Helen Grossman all won multiple events. Milutnovich won both the 100 and 200-Yard Free with times of 50.13 and 1:49.05. This marks the second time in Milutinovich’s career that she won both the 100 and 200 Free in the same meet as she did so at the SMU Invitational in November. Kalisz won both backstroke events, for the sixth time this season, with times of 54.96 in the 100-Yard and 1:58.90 in the 200-Yard. Grossman touched the wall first in both butterfly events for the second time this season. She swam a 54.23 in the 100-Yard and a 1:59.68 in the 200-Yard.

Five other Tigers brought home individual victories. Olivia Paskulin won the 100-Yard Breast with a time of 1:02.98, Olivia Taylor won the 50-Yard Free with a time of 23.25, Niamh Robinson won the 200-Yard Breast with a time of 2:13.99, Jolee Liles won the 500-Yard Free with a time of 4:55.79, and Summer Stanfield won the 200-Yard IM with a time of 2:03.05.

The team of Kalisz, Paskulin, Grossman, and Taylor got the night started with a bang after winning the 200-Yard Medley Relay with a time of 1:41.71. The team of Milutinovich, Grossmna, Taylor and Natalie Kucsan closed out the night with a win in the 400-Yard Freestyle Relay after touching the wall in 3:24.33.

“I am really happy with the racing we did today,” said LSU head swim coach Dave Geyer. Five meets in 22 days is a tough task but I like what I saw. Through the whole meet, the women stayed focused and competed to their fullest. There were definitely some details in and out of our turns that we need to address and I am hoping we can see that tomorrow in time trials.”

ON THE BOARDS

Aimee Wilson won both springboard events as the Tigers dominated on the boards. Wilson won the three-meter springboard with a score of 387.38, which improves her second best score in LSU history and is a season high for the Tigers. She also set a new season-high on one-meter with a score of 328.58 to take the top spot.

Hayley Montague claimed a second place finish on one-meter with a score of 276.83, which is a new career-high for the freshman. She then finished in sixth place on three-meter with a score of 267.53. Anne Tuxen dove to a score of 298.58 to finish in second place on three-meter.

“I am very happy with our performance on the boards today,” said LSU head diving coach Doug Shaffer. “Taking the top two spots on both boards greatly contributes to our team score. Aimee (Wilson) recorded personal bests on both boards and really shined. This type of performance is exactly what we want to see going into the championship season.”

MORE INFORMATION

For more information and updates on LSU Swimming and Diving please visit LSUsports.net, ‘like’ us on Facebook at LSU Swimming and Diving or follow us on Twitter and Instagram @LSUSwimDive.

PRESS RELEASE – RICE:

The Rice swim team wrapped up Friday’s opening night of completion the annual Tri-Meet across town at the University of Houston Rec Center Natatorium.

In the meet’s team scoring crosstown foe Houston defeated the Owls 155-139. SEC power LSU, the No. 17 ranked side in the country, claimed a 202-89 head-to-head win over Rice. The Owls are now 5-3 in dual meets this season.

Rice true freshman Shannon Campbell won the rugged 1000-yard freestyle to pace the Blue & Gray. Campbell posted a season-best time of 10:10.53 that is also now the top mark in Conference USA, but she wasn’t quite finished. The distance specialist from St. John’s, Florida, returned later in the meet to post a second place finish among a starting field of 15 entries in the 500-freestyle with time 4:58.19. Senior Claire Therien was third in the 500 (5:01.17).

Some of the other Owl top finishers Friday included a second and third-place by the Owl tandem of Nicole Limberg (2:18.06) and Phillis Range (2:19.14) in the 200-breaststroke. Junior Brittany Bui finished second in the 100-butterfly (55.23). Sophomore Marta Cano-Minarro rallied for a second place finish in the 200-individual medley (2:04.43).

There is still one more round of action remaining at the two-day Tri-Meet. The same three teams return Saturday at 10 am at the UH Rec Center, only the meet format will change to an ‘Open’ style of time trials with no team scoring.