Auburn Achieves Sweep Against In-State Rival Alabama
The Auburn Tigers travelled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., Friday afternoon for a meet against their biggest rival, the Alabama Crimson Tide, and both Tigers teams came out on top. The women’s meet came down to the wire, as Alabama picked up several wins in the latter portion of the meet, but Auburn held for a 167-to-133 victory. The Tiger men, meanwhile, easily topped Alabama, winning 184.5 to 115.5.
Auburn got wins from Averee Preble in the women’s 1000 freestyle (9:39.53) and Polina Nevmovenko in the 200 freestyle (1:46.08), followed by Kensley Merritt taking the win in the 100 backstroke (52.21) and Stasya Makarova in the 100 breaststroke (59.72), with Makarova edging out Alabama’s Diana Petkova by just two hundredths. Meghan Lee won the 200 butterfly in 1:56.34 for Auburn’s fifth consecutive win.
Later on, Maggie McGuire topped the 200 back (1:54.90), and Ashlynn Sullivan doubled up with diving wins on 3-meter (330.60) and 1-meter (283.50). Lawson Ficken, Nevmovenko, Emma Steckiel and Lisa Klevanovich took the win in the 400 free relay in 3:16.50.
The Alabama women edged Auburn in the opening 200 medley relay, with Gaby Van Brunt, Avery Wiseman, Kailyn Winter and Cadence Vincent combining for a time of 1:35.81, but the Crimson tide could not maintain the momentum. Vincent later won the 50 free in 22.42, beating Auburn’s Lexie Mulvihill by two hundredths, and Petkova won the 100 free in 49.00, just edging the Auburn duo of Nevmovenko (by one hundredth) and Klevanovich (two hundredths).
Petkova became a double winner with a win in the 200 IM (1:58.77) while Wiseman won the 200 breast (2:08.22) and Mackenzie Brandt came out on top of the 500 free (4:43.33). As part of Bama’s late surge, Van Brunt was victorious by one hundredth over Lee in the 100 fly, touching in 52.44.
A dominant Tigers effort on the men’s side began with Nate Stoffle, Henry Bethel, Sohib Khaled and Kalle Makinen winning the 200 medley relay in 1:24.24. Individually, Mason Mathias won the 1000 free (8:58.97). Aidan Stoffle then grabbed the 100 back win in 46.08, with Khaled making it a 1-2 finish, while Bethel tied with Alabama’s Michael Deans atop the 100 breast in 53.37.
Danny Schmidt topped the 200 fly for Auburn (1:44.74) before winning the 200 IM (1:45.28), and Makinen was another double winner, taking first in the 50 free (19.39) and 100 free (43.01), and the Stoffle brothers went 1-2 in the 200 back, with Nate winning (1:40.87) and Aidan second (1:42.46). Khled took first in the 100 fly (46.69), and Auburn’s Whit Andrus finished first in 1-meter diving (379.88) and 3-meter diving (391.58).
Charlie Hawke was a bright spot for the Crimson Tide as he won the 200 free in 1:32.90, with teammate Kaique Alves second (1:33.92). Hawke later won the 500 free in 4:18.62. Deans was also a double winner as he returned from his 100 breast tie to take the 200 outright in 1:56.30. Zarek Wilson, Hawke, Alves and Tim Korstanje combined for a time of 2:51.33 in a 400 free relay win.