Rhyan White Leads Alabama to Tight Win Over Auburn; Tiger Men Prevail

Rhyan White

Rhyan White Leads Alabama to Tight Win Over Auburn; Tiger Men Prevail

The competition between the women’s teams of natural rivals Alabama and Auburn came down to the wire, and the Crimson Tide snuck by the Tigers by just 10 points, 155-145. Alabama was led by Olympian and 2022 World Championships medalist Rhyan White, who had three victories, while distance swimmer Kensey McMahon and sprinter Kalia Antoniou grabbed two first-place finishes apiece. Meanwhile, the Auburn men won by a comfortable score of 184-116.

White scored comfortable wins in the 100 backstroke (51.29), 200 backstroke (1:52.24) and 100 butterfly (51.79), and she led off Bama’s winning 200 medley relay. White, Avery Wiseman, Emily Jones and Antoniou finished in 1:35.80. McMahon cruised in the 1000 freestyle (9:34.36) and 500 freestyle (4:41.83), while Antoniou went 21.94 for a first-place result in the 50 free before easily topping the 100 free in 48.11. Antoniou, Jones, Gracie Felner and Diana Petkova combined for a time of 3:15.45 in winning the 400 free relay.

Wiseman led the way in the 200 breaststroke in 2:09.09 while Cat Wright and Jocelyn Fisher made it a 1-2-3 finish for the Crimson Tide, Wright added a win in the 200 IM (1:57.08). Alabama’s Ryleigh Rodger took the win in 1-meter diving (264.60). As for Auburn, Polina Nevmovenko took the 200 free in 1:46.21, and Stasya Makarova edged out Wright in a tight 100 breast duel, 59.88 to 59.92. Auburn’s Meghan Lee won the 200 fly (1:56.48), and Ashlynn Sullivan took first in 3-meter diving (287.18). However, the Tigers were unable to claim any wins after that as Bama pulled ahead.

Meanwhile, the Auburn men came out strong right away as Aidan Stoffle, Reid Mikuta, Nate Stoffle and Kalle Makinen won the 200 medley relay in 1:23.70, and all four of those men would go on to earn individual triumphs. Nate Stoffle won the 100 back in 45.81, just ahead of brother Aidan (46.00), while Aidan later captured the 100 fly win (46.75). In one of the top races of the day, Mikuta edged out Alabama’s Derek Maas to win the 100 breast, 51.55 to 51.74. Makinen beat Alabama’s Charlie Hawke to the wall in the 50 free, 19.73 to 19.79.

Also for Auburn, Mason Mathias won the 1000 free (8:51.45) while Evan McInerny touched out Alabama’s Mateo Miceli in the 200 fly by a mere one hundredth, 1:44.78 to 1:44.79. Andrew Simmons won the 200 back (1:42.15), and Conner Pruitt swept 1-meter (373.20) and 3-meter (387.68) diving.

Hawke provided a big meet for the Crimson Tide with wins in the 200 free (1:32.61) and 500 free (4:16.88). Hawke already owns the nation’s second-best mark in the 200 free at 1:31.89. Maas also added a pair of individual wins to his runnerup result in the 100 breast: the 200 breast, where he turned the tables on Mikuta on the third 50 to win by almost a second, 1:54.93 to 1:55.94, and the 200 IM, in which he posted a mark of 1:45.75. In a tight race in the men’s 100 free, Bama’s Kaique Alves touched in 43.11 to edge out the Auburn duo of Makinen (43.16) and Christian Sztolcman (43.22).

Finally, the meet ended with a bang in the 400 free relay as Alabama held off a surging Auburn by just eight hundredths. The team of Hawke, Alves, Tim Korstanje and Matthew Menke finished in 2:51.56, just ahead of the Auburn group of Makinen, Logan Tirheimer, Aidan Stoffle and Sztolcman (2:51.64).

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John W

1 year ago

Alabama is done after this year. Next year out of the top 20 w no White or Antoniou