Alabama Men, Kentucky Women Wrap Up Dual Meet Victories

Alabama v. Kentucky

• December 17-19, 2020
• Alabama Aquatics Center, Tuscaloosa, AL
• Course: SCY
• Results

The University of Alabama v. The University Kentucky dual meet saw a tight finish on Friday. Ultimately, the Wildcat women came out on top by a score of 206.5 to 182.5, while the Alabama men emerged victorious by a score of 202 to 187. 

Alabama opened the morning session up with a victory in the 200 medley relays. The women’s relay of Morgan Scott, Kaila Wong, Flora Molnar, and Kalia Antoniou finished in a time of 1:39.47, while the men’s team of Matthew Menke, Derek Maas, Colton Stogner, and Matt King won in a time of 1:28.80. 

In a tight women’s 100 butterfly field, Kentucky sophomore Caitlin Brooks emerged victorious, touching in a time of 53.93, just ahead of Alabama’s Rhyan White (54.11). 

Kentucky also got a victory in the men’s 100 fly, courtesy of junior Mason Wilby, who finished in a time of 48.13.

The Wildcats also swept the 400 IM, with sophomore Lauren Poole winning the women’s event in a time of 4:15.30 and junior Kyle Barker winning the men’s event with a time of 3:54.44. 

Scott claimed Alabama’s first individual event win of the day, touching first in the women’s 200 freestyle with a time of 1:47.87. However, Kentucky fired back with senior Hank Siefert, who won the men’s event with a time of 1:38.45. 

Wildcat Gillian Davey won the women’s 100 breaststroke, touching in 1:02.34, while Maas claimed victory for the Crimson Tide in the men’s event, finishing over a second ahead of the field with his time of 55.10. 

Brooks returned in the 100 backstroke to claim her second individual event win of the day, finishing ahead of Scott once again in a time of 52.00. After leading-off Alabama’s 200 medley relay, Menke won the individual 100 backstroke with a time of 48.10. 

Alabama claimed the title in the women’s 800 freestyle relay, where the squad of Gracie Feiner, Morgan Scott, Kensey McMahon, and Kalia Antoniou won in a time of 7:18.87. Kentucky claimed victory in the men’s event, with the team of Max Berg, Mason Wilby, Jakob Clark, and Hank Siefert finishing first in a time of 6:36.38. 

The morning wrapped up with the platform diving events, where Alabama sophomore Tanesha Lucoe won the women’s event and Kentucky junior Mingli Zhang won the men’s event. 

In the afternoon, Alabama once again jumped out into the lead, winning the 200 freestyle relays. The women’s team of Antoniou, Scott, Molnar, and Cora Dupre touched first with a time of 1:30.10, while the men’s team of Matt King, Jonathan Berneburg, Colton Stogner, and Sam DiSette won with a time of 1:20.04.

Wildcat Bath McNeese touched first in a tight women’s 500 freestyle field, finishing in 4:49.60, while her teammate Hank Siefert won the men’s event in a time of 4:24.75. 

Kentucky senior Bailey Bonnett won the 200 IM in a time of 2:00.37, while Kentucky junior Kyle Barker won the men’s race with a time of 1:47.73. 

The women’s 50 freestyle saw a tie via Kentucky junior Riley Gaines and Alabama junior Kalia Antoniou, who touched simultaneously in a time of 22.79. Alabama freshman Matt King won the men’s race, getting under the 20-second mark with a time of 19.85. 

The Wildcat women’s squad of Brooks, Davey, Izzy Gati, and Gaines won the 400 medley relay with a time of 3:36.46, while the Crimson Tide men’s team of Menke, Maas, Stronger, and King claimed victory with a time of 3:14.81.

Press Release- University of Kentucky

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 10 University of Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team remains undefeated this season, earning a 24-point triumph over No. 11 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Friday, December 18, 206.5-182.5. Meanwhile, the Kentucky men’s swimming and diving team trailed the No. 14 Crimson Tide by just six points ahead of the final race, but dropped to the ranked team in rival field, 202-187.

First-Place Finishes
Women

Men

Friday Highlights

• Caitlin Brooks, a sophomore from Gainesville, Florida, rallied a pair of top times on Friday, earning first place in the 100 backstroke (52.00) and the 100 butterfly (53.93), before she helped the 400 medley relay earn first place to secure the triumph.
  • In the 100 backstroke, Brooks finished nine tenths of a second better than second place, the Crimson Tide’s Rhyan White, who currently owns the second-fastest time in the nation (50.45) in the event, earned at a midseason invitational.
  • Brooks is undefeated in the 100 backstroke through three meets this season – two dual meets and one invitational.
  • Brooks’ first-place finish in the 100 butterfly marked her first top time in that event this season, after competing in the event at each meet this season – three dual meets and one invitational.
• Danny Zhang, a junior from Cypress, California, rallied a triumph on platform for his second win of the dual meet, earning a mark of 417.08, his season high on the discipline and just 5.02 points off of his career best.
  • Zhang is the defending conference champion on platform, earning the title at the 2020 Southeastern Conference Championship on 422.10 points, a career best, and the fourth-best score in program history.
• Beth McNeese, a sophomore from Katy, Texas, paced a group of distance swimmers to first-, second-, third-, and fourth-place finishes in the 500 freestyle.
  • McNeese finished the race with the top time, touching the wall in 4:49.60.
  • Freshman and former SEC Freshman of the Week, Kaylee Williams, earned second place in 4:50.84.
  • Kaitlynn Wheeler, a sophomore from Loami, Illinois, finished in third place on a time of 4:57.60.
  • Kelly Rodriguez, a junior from Madison, Wisconsin, took fourth place, touching the wall in 4:59.44.
• Hank Siefert, a senior from Xenia, Ohio, grabbed three first-place finishes on Friday – two individual events and one relay event. Most impressively, he led a group of five men to the finish line in the 500 freestyle, claiming the top time ahead of his teammates’ second- through fifth- place finishes.
  • In the 500 freestyle, Siefert earned the top time in 4:24.75.
  • Adam Rosipal, a transfer junior from the University of Indianapolis, finished in second place in 4:28.38.
  • Jakob Clark, a sophomore from Allen, Texas, finished in third place on a time of 4:28.76.
  • Daniel Blake, a junior from Campbell, California, took fourth place in 4:35.70.
  • John Michael Gordon, a sophomore from Lynchburg, Virginia, rounded out the group in fifth place, earning a 4:35.86.
• Kyle Barker had a phenomenal meet, recording two strong triumphs down the stretch on Friday –  200 IM (1:47.73) and 400 IM (3:54.44) – helping the men’s team to trail No. 14 Alabama by just six points before the final relay.
  • He was the only Kentucky swimmer or diver – male or female – to win as many as three individual events throughout the meet.
    • Brooks and Siefert earned three wins, too, including two individual events and one relay event, respectively.
• Riley Gaines, a junior from Nashville, Tennessee, tied for first place in the 50 freestyle in 22.79.
  • The time is just .02 from tying her career high, which she set at the Mizzou Invitational in November.

Thursday Highlights

• Kyndal Knight, a junior diver from Stanley, North Carolina, dominated the 1- and 3-meter springboards, scoring a pair of personal records on first-place finishes.
  • 1-meter springboard (320.78)
    • Knight remains undefeated on the 1-meter springboard this year, earning wins against Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas and now Alabama.
    • Her score was more than 49 points better than second place.
    • Her previous personal record was 313.60, which she earned at the at the 2020 SEC Championships, placing first place in the 1-meter springboard preliminaries.
    • Her new personal record of 320.78 moves up one spot in the record book, ranking fifth in the program’s all-time top-10 performances list.
  • 3-meter springboard (355.58)
    • Her score was more than 66 points better than second place.
    • Her previous personal record was 353.75 points, which she earned at the 2020 SEC Championships and helped her earn a gold medal.
    • Both scores (353.75 and 355.58) ranked/rank second in the program’s all-time top-10 performances list.
      • Her new personal record of 355.58 is just 7.42 off from the school record, which was set by Jessica Thompson in 2005.
• The men’s team took the 1,650 freestyle event by storm, earning first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finishes in that event.
  • Adam Rosipal, a transfer junior from the University of Indianapolis, earned the top time in 15:32.42.
  • Jakob Clark, the 2020 All-SEC Freshman Team selection, earned second place, touching the wall in 15:34.06.
  • Daniel Blake, a junior from Campbell, California, filled third place, earning a time of 15:55.02.
  • Zane Rosely, a freshman from White Lake, Michigan, rounded out the four-person sweep in 16:00.72.
• Kyle Barker, a junior from Aldie, Virginia, rallied a first-place finish on a personal record in the 200 backstroke, touching the wall in 1:46.17.
  • It marks the second-best time anyone has recorded in this event on the men’s team this season.
• Bailey Bonnett paced a group of 200 breaststrokers to first-, second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-place finishes.
  • Bonnett, a senior from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, touched the wall in 2:11.53 to lead the event.
  • Gillian Davey, a sophomore from Urbandale, Iowa, finished in second place in 2:12.16.
  • Jaclyn Hill, a senior from Canton, Georgia, took third place in 2:16.25.
  • Lauren Poole, a sophomore from Crofton, Maryland, finished in fourth place, earning a time of 2:16.97.
  • Finally, rounding out the five-person sweep, Anna Havens Rice, a freshman from Greenville, South Carolina, touched the wall in 2:18.08 to earn fifth place.
• Kentucky earned first place in both 200 butterfly events.
  • Izzy Gati took the top time on the women’s side in 1:58.48.
  • Mason Wilby took the top time on the men’s side in 1:46.22.
• Danny Zhang, a junior from Cypress, California, earned a season-best score on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 427.28 points to take first place.

Head Coach Lars Jorgensen
“There were a lot of highlights in this meet, and I thought both teams competed really well against a strong Alabama program. 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 Barkerwas one of our best guys in the meet. He was a good leader, and I’m proud of his efforts throughout the competition.”

Head Diving Coach Ted Hautau
“Danny Zhang did pretty good on platform today. His goal was to go over 400, and he was pretty consistent. He didn’t make any major mistakes and his dives were pretty nice and clean. Overall, it was a good meet for him. Rodrigo Romero had some good stuff on platform, too, coming in second place. I’m really pleased with how he is coming along. We definitely have some work to do to fully capitalize ahead of the spring meets. Cara Hudson was really good on platform today, too, and she has gotten her list back together and is pretty consistent. She had a good attitude and solid confidence today. Kyndal Knight did some good stuff on platform today, especially with a couple of new dives in her list.”

Team Scores
Women

Men

Next Up
The RV/No. 10 University of Kentucky swimming and diving program will go back on the road to meet No. 11/5 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee, January 14 and January 15, 2021. The Wildcats have already met the Volunteers once this year, when Kentucky hosted Tennessee in October. The then-No. 12 Kentucky women’s team upset then-No. 7 Tennessee, 152-148, while the then-RV Kentucky men’s team fell to then-No. 14 Tennessee, 105.5-194.5.

Press Release- University of Alabama

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The Alabama swimming and diving men finished off 2020 by beating the Kentucky Wildcats at the Don Gambril Olympic Pool in the Alabama Aquatic Center Friday.

The men’s meet went down to the last event, with Matt Menke, Derek Maas, Colton Stogner and Matt King closing out the Wildcats by winning the 400 medley relay in a time of 3:14.81. In the end, the Crimson Tide men outpointed the Wildcats 202-187, while the UA women fell 206.5-182.5.

Alabama won 8-of-10 relays against the Wildcats, going 1-2 in the men’s 200 medley relay and men’s and women’s 200 freestyle relays. Overall the Tide men and women combined for 21 wins over the two days of competition.

HEAD COACH COLEY STICKELS SAID

“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. 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.”

TOP HONORS

• The Crimson Tide women opened day two by winning the 200 medley relay, with Morgan Scott, Kaila Wong, Flora Molnar and Kalia Antoniou stopping the clock at 1:39.47 to hold off the Wildcats A squad
• The Alabama men got things started on Friday by going 1-2 in the 200 medley relay, with Menke, Maas, Stogner and King getting the win with a 1:28.80
• Both the Tide men and women went 1-2 in the 200 freestyle relay, with Antoniou, Scott, Molnar and Cora Dupre taking top honors for the women with a 1:30.10, while King, Jonathan Berneburg, Stogner and Sam DiSette won the men’s challenge with a 1:20.04
• Maas, Menke and King all notched individual wins Friday, with Maas leading a 1-2-3 sweep of the 100 breaststroke (55.10), Menke winning the 100 backstroke (48.10) and King leading a 1-2-3 sweep of the 50 freestyle (19.87)
• Scott won the 200 freestyle (1:47.87) and Antoniou won the 50 freestyle (22.79) and combined with Gracie Felner and Kensey McMahon to win the 800 freestyle relay (7:18.87)
• McMahon raced away from the field in the 500 freestyle, touching first with a 4:46.47
• Tanesha Lucoe outscored the field in women’s platform diving by 15 points to get the win after tallying 282.38 points over five dives

UP NEXT

• The Crimson Tide is slated to open the New Year on Jan. 15 with the Auburn Tigers at home at the Don Gambril Olympic Pool