Alabama and Auburn Split Rare December Dual Meet

by Robert Gibbs 1

December 09th, 2018 College, News, SEC

Alabama v. Auburn

  • December 7, 2018
  • Alabama Aquatics Center, Tuscaloosa, AL
  • SCY
  • Final Results
  • Scores
    • Men: Alabama 160, Auburn 140
    • Women: Auburn 188, Alabama 110

The Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide split a relatively rare December dual meet, with the Alabama men edging out Auburn for their win in this series since the 2010-2011 season.

Robert Howard led the way for the Alabama men with victories in the 200 free (1:39.37) and 50 free (19.87) , as well as a 42.75 anchor leg on the 400 free relay at the end of the meet. Fellow senior Laurent Bams also doubled, taking the 100 breast in 53.82 and the 100 free in 44.61. Alabama also got victories from Zane Waddell (100 back – 48.22), Spencer Walker (200 back – 1:47.72), and Nicholas Perera  (400 IM – 3:54.81).

Auburn kept things close the whole way, but ultimately couldn’t prevail. Joshua Dannhauser swept the distance free, going 4:29.36 in the 500 and 9:17.99 in the 1000 free. Santiago Grassi took both fly events with a 1:47.80 victory in the 200 and a 47.45 in the 100 fly, just touching out Waddell (47.56), and Tommy Brewer won the 200 breast with a 2:00.76.

The Alabama women got things going with a victory in the 400 medley relay, outsplitting Auburn on each leg, but Auburn took over from there, winning all of the rest of the events, except two.

Emily Hetzer won the first individual event, the 1000 free, with a 9:49.08, shortly thereafter settled for 3rd in the 200 free, and came back later in the day to win the 500 free with a 4:49.21.

Three more women doubled for the Tigers: Erin Falconer swept the backstrokes with times of 53.70/1:55.90, Bailey Nero won the 200 fly (1:59.68) and 400 IM (4:17.19), and Alyssa Tetzloff won the 100 free (49.64) and 100 fly (54.08). Jessica Merritt (1:49.37 200 free) and Claire Fisch (22.74) and earned victories for Auburn.

Justine Macfarlane was responsible for both of Alabama’s individual victories, going 1:02.60 and 2:14.98 in a breaststroke sweep.

The meet’s results dovetail nicely with the Swimulator, which had the Alabama men beating Auburn in a simulated NCAAs, SECs, and dual meet, based on best times from this season, and has the Auburn women beating Alabama in all three formats as well.

Alabama Release

Courtesy of Alabama Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama swimming and diving men beat Auburn Friday afternoon, 160-140, in the Alabama Aquatic Center. It was the Crimson Tide men’s first win over the Tigers in dual meet competition since October 2010.

The men won seven of 14 individual events, and both relays, led by seniors Laurent Bams (100 breaststroke, 100 freestyle) and Robert Howard (50 and 200 freestyles). Also touching first for the men were junior Zane Waddell (100 backstroke) and freshmen Spencer Walker (200 backstroke) and Nicholas Perera (400 IM).

Waddell, Bams, senior Knox Auerbach and Howard opened the meet by winning the 400 medley relay and Waddell, Bams, sophomore Sam DiSette and Howard clinched the meet by winning the 400 freestyle relay.

The Alabama women fell to the Tigers 188-110. Senior Justine Macfarlane led the Crimson Tide with wins in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke. The Tide’s 400 medley relay of freshman Rhyan White, Macfarlane, sophomore Flora Molnarand freshman Kalia Antoniou opened the meet with a win.

The Alabama men and women return to action on January 12 against Florida State at 10 a.m. in the Alabama Aquatic Center. The Crimson Tide women also face Miami on that date in a double-dual with FSU.

For all the latest information on the Alabama swimming and diving teams, follow AlabamaSwimDive on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. General athletic news can be found on @UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and Alabama Athletics on Facebook.

Auburn Release

Courtesy of Auburn Athletics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – It was a win for the Auburn women and a narrow loss for the Auburn men as the two squads battled nationally ranked Alabama in the final fall dual meet for Auburn’s swimming and diving teams.

“Obviously there were some really, really good performances on both the women’s and men’s side,” Auburn head coach Gary Taylor said. “I’m really proud of the divers, they absolutely dominated the boards in both meets, getting some big wins and getting us off to a great start.”

Auburn won 13 out of 16 events en route to the 188-110 women’s win over the No. 23 Alabama women. Erin Falconer, Emily Hetzer, Bailey Nero, Aly Tetzloff and Alison Maillard each won two events for the 17th-ranked Auburn women.

Falconer was impressive from the beginning, leading off Auburn’s top 400 medley relay in 53.53 and then won the 100 back in 53.70 three events later. The junior also won the 200 back in 1:55.90, giving her her first sweep of the backstroke events and five total individual event wins this season. She closed out the meet by anchoring the winning 400 free relay as Aly Tetzloff, Claire Fisch and Julie Meynen teamed up with her to go 3:20.68 to win the event by almost three full seconds.

“Erin did what she has done all year, stepping up and winning events,” Taylor said.

Hetzer continued the impressive start to her freshman campaign, sweeping the distance free events to pick up her third and fourth individual wins of the year. She won the 500 free in 4:49.21 and the 1000 free in 9:49.08. She also came back one event after the 1000 free to take third in the 200 free (1:49.93).

“Emily really dominated the 1000 and then came back and dominated the 500,” Taylor said. “Those are fantastic performances by the freshman.”

The senior Nero won the 200 fly (1:59.68) and 400 IM (4:17.19) to claim her fourth and fifth individual wins of the season.

Tetzloff was also a double winner for the women, taking the 100 free in 49.64 and the 100 fly in 54.08. Both wins were part of 1-2 Auburn finishes with Claire Fisch taking second in the 100 free (50.35) and Nero taking second in the 100 fly (54.54).

“Bailey got a couple of good wins for us, taking the 200 fly and capping off the individual events with the 400 IM win,” Taylor said. “Aly had two tough individual swims and really performed well. She got out early in both the 100 fly and 100 free, holding on in the end in the 100 free, as a part of two 1-2 finishes.”

The remaining individual swimming wins went to Jessica Merritt in the 200 free (1:49.37) and Fisch in the 50 free (22.74).
Auburn’s men hung tough with the No. 18 Alabama men but came up just short, falling 160-140. Auburn claimed seven individual wins, with Josh Dannhauser earning two of them.

Dannhauser, the sophomore from Durban, South Africa, earned the first individual wins of his Auburn career, sweeping the distance free events. He won the 500 free in 4:29.36 and the 1000 free in 9:17.99, out-pacing teammate and runner-up Russell Noletto, who went 4:30.40 and 9:23.11, respectively, in each event.

“Josh picked up right where he left off, getting two big wins in the distance events,” Taylor said. “He has had a fantastic season so far and he really dominated the competition today.”

Santiago Grassi also had a double-win Friday, sweeping the fly events. The junior won the 100 in 47.45 and the 200 in 1:47.80. The wins were the first of the season for the Santa Fe, Argentina, native.

“That was a big-time win in the 200 fly for Santi,” Taylor said. “It came at a point in the meet where we really needed the win. Then he came back in the 100 fly and goes 1-3-4 with Foster Ballard (49.45) and David Crossland (49.76) to turn the tide, so-to-speak.”

Senior Tommy Brewer closed out the men’s individual race wins by getting to the wall first in the 200 breast in 2:00.76. He also had a runner-up finish in the 100 breast (55.14).

“Tommy had a couple of really good individual performances, with a pair of in-season bests,” Taylor said.

“All-in-all the men performed well and showed a lot of heart and determination,” Taylor said. “They could have walked away but they kept at it. I certainly hate losing, more than I love winning, but I couldn’t be more proud of the effort I saw from the men’s team. They never backed down and had a shot to win the meet going into the last two events.”

DIVING RECAP

It was a pair of 1-2 sweeps on both springboards for both the Auburn men and women, collecting a combined seven Zone Qualifying Scores in the process.

“It was a great day for us,” diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. “We wanted to get the meet off to a strong start and we ended up sweeping both boards. That was what we were looking to do – dive consistently.”

Maillard and Wendy Espina went 1-2 in the women’s competition, with Maillard scoring a 308.70 to win the 3-meter and a 305.55 to win the 1-meter, both of which were Zone scores. Espina scored a 253.28 on the 3-meter and 260.10 on the 1-meter to take second both times.

It was also back-to-back top-two finishes for Conner Pruitt and Scott Lazeroff. Pruitt won the 1-meter with a career-best 343.43 and the 3-meter with a 364.58. Lazeroff was just behind him both times, scoring a season-best 339.08 on the 1-meter and a 361.20 on the 3-meter, with all four of those scores being Zone Qualifiers.

Logan Andrews also earned his first Zone Qualifying Score of the year in finishing third on the 1-meter with a career-best 310.28. He came in fourth on the 3-meter (312.68).

“I am really proud of everyone’s effort today,” Shaffer said. “Logan competed for the first time and earned a Zone Score. I’m looking forward to giving them the opportunity to really perform academically now, finish the semester strong with finals and then get ready for our invitiational.”

WHAT’S NEXT

Auburn’s swimmers are done with the fall portion of their schedule and will next compete on Saturday, Jan. 5, in a home dual meet against Georgia Tech.

Auburn’s divers will host the three-day Auburn Diving Invitational Dec. 17-19 at the Martin Aquatics Center. Admission is free.

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Socrateshatesoliveoil
5 years ago

Roll Tide! Nice win by the MEN.

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