Kentucky Women, Alabama Men Prevail in Tight Dual Meets

Caitlin Brooks; Photo Courtesy: Kentucky Athletics/Hannah Phillips

The No. 10 ranked Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team used a pair of individual wins by Caitlin Brooks Friday night to edge No. 11 Alabama, 206.5-182.5.

On the men’s side, No. 14 Alabama pulled away from the Wildcats on Day 2, 202-187.

Brooks led the charge Friday, the second day of a two-day meet in Tuscaloosa. After finishing second in the 200 backstroke Thursday, she edged out Alabama’s Rhyan White in the 100 back Friday, winning in 52.00 to White’s 52.98. White holds the second-fastest time in the nation at 50.45 this season. White had won the 200 back in 1:54.10.

Brooks bested White by a narrower margin in the 100 butterfly, going 53.93 to White’s 54.11.

Brooks joined Bailey Bonnet as the only other swimmer to win multiple events for the Wildcats. Bonnett won the 200 breaststroke Thursday. After finishing second to teammate Lauren Poole (4:15.30) in the 400 individual medley, Bonnett won the 200 IM in 2:00.37. She was also second in the 100 breast.

Riley Gaines finally got a win after a number of solid swims. She was second in the 200 fly (to teammate Izzy Gati), and the 100 and 200 free (both to Alabama’s Morgan Scott). But she got the victory in the 50 free, touching the wall in the same time as Alabama’s Kalia Antoniou in 22.79. Gaines also anchored the only one of the five relays won by the Kentucky women, the 400 medley squad of Brooks, Gillian Davey (100 breast winner), Gati and Gaines clocking in at 3:36.46.

Kyndal Knight won the one-meter and three-meter springboard diving for Kentucky to go with second on the platform. Beth McNeese added a win in the 500 free.

Scott’s two wins joined Kensey McMahon in the 1,650 and Antoniou’s tie as the only Alabama individual victories. But the Crimson Tide cleaned up on the relays. Scott and Antoniou were part of all four victorious foursomes; Flora Molnar was on the winning 400 free, 200 medley and 200 free squads. Tanesha Lucoe won platform diving for Alabama.

Alabama’s men’s team turned the relay prowess into a victory, again taking four of the five races.

The foursome of Matthew Menke, Derek Maas, Colton Stogner and Matt King won both medley relays. King swept the 50 and 100 free, each a 1-2 finish with Jonathan Berneburg. King swam on all four winning relays, joining Berneburg and Sam DiSette on both free relays.

Maas swept the 100 breast and 200 breast, and Menke claimed the 100 back.

Kentucky’s big scorer was Kyle Barker, who won the 200 back on Day 1, then swept the two IM events Friday. Mason Wilby dominated butterfly, winning the 100 and 200. The Wildcats also reigned in distance freestyle, with Hank Seifert winning the 200 and 500 and Adam Rosipal claiming the 1,650. Danny Zhang won the 3-meter springboard and platform events.

“There were a lot of highlights in this meet, and I thought both teams competed really well against a strong Alabama program,” Kentucky coach Lars Jorgensen said in a team release. “Caitlin Brooks was the swimmer of the meet; she just competed so well. I thought Riley Gaines’ 50 freestyle was a fantastic swim, and Lauren Poole had an outstanding meet. Danny Zhang won on platform this afternoon and did a nice job there, and I thought our distance swimmers did an awesome job, sweeping those events. Overall, Kyle Barker was one of our best guys in the meet. He was a good leader, and I’m proud of his efforts throughout the competition.”

“It was about as close as it could get on both sides and the men had to fight hard down the stretch to get the win,” Alabama coach Coley Stickels said in a team release. “Overall, we had some spots where we really competed well and we had some events where we need to get a little tougher and go after it no matter who we’re going up against. Right now, it’s time to get back to work and continue moving forward and improving as we keep our focus on the championship season.”

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