LSU Women Open Season with Dominant Win at Vanderbilt

LSU Kopsco
Photo Courtesy: LSU Athletics

NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Kara Kopcso, Leah Troskot, Colleen O’Neil and Makenna Wilson garnered two individual events apiece, leading the LSU women’s swimming team (1-0) to a 200-61 victory over Vanderbilt (0-1) at the Centennial Sportsplex in Nashville Friday afternoon

“It was nice to get a starting point for our women from the season,” said LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer. “This is close to three weeks earlier than we raced last season, so we haven’t focused too much on our details in training and that was evident. It’s a long process for the season, and it was great to start off with a win for the women.”

Kopcso placed first in the 200 free and 100 fly, posting times of 1:50.73 and 54.67 respectively.

Troskot notched first place finishes in both the 50 free and 100 free with times of 23.78 and 51.27.

O’Neil secured victories in the 100 and 200 breast, finishing with times of 1:02.71 and 2:18.91

Wilson tallied wins in the 100 back and 200 back, earning times of 56.75 and 2:02.39.

All four ladies were also part of the 200-medley relay team that took first place with a time of 1:43.49 to start the meet. The relay team of Haylee Knight, Kate Zimmer, Troskot and Kopcso wrapped up the meet with a first place time of 3:29.85 in the 400 yard free relay.

Sophomore Gabrielle Pick took first in the 200 fly with a personal best of 2:02.29 to earn her first career win. Senior Sophie Weber won the 200 IM with a final time of 2:04.50. Senior Devon Dabney also tacked on another first place finish in the 500 free, ending with a time of 5:01.70, and junior Jane MacDougall placed second in the 1000 free with a time of 10:26.99.

The women return to Baton Rouge for the annual Purple and Gold Intrasquad meet on Saturday. The meet begins at 11 a.m. inside the LSU Natatorium and admission is free.

Men’s swimmer Logan Rysemus returns to the water for his senior year after earning NCAA Honorable Mention All-America honors in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke last season, becoming the sixth All-American in the 100 fly and third in the 100 back.

Men’s diver Matthew Phillip returns for his sophomore campaign after he set the fourth-highest scores in school history on both three-meter and platform his freshman year. Women’s sophomore diver Lizzie Cui is also set to participate for the gold squad after competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics for New Zealand over the summer.

“We’re looking forward to shake off some of the training and create an environment where we can swim, dive and compete in a home environment as a mark to be a yardstick for the progress that we’ve made in the early part of the season,” said LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer.

“For the Purple and Gold (meet), it’s always fun to create this team atmosphere and have them go against each other and get that competitive spirit in the water,” said Geyer. “This year will be a little bit different with the women competing the day before, so we’ll make this a lot more relay-focused. At the same time, we want our coaching staff to see what we need out of individual swims as well. We’re looking forward to a fun few days of racing.”

Press release courtesy of LSU Athletics.

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