Freestyle Dominance Pushes Alabama Over Texas A&M in Dual Meet
The Alabama Crimson Tide swimming and diving teams visited College Station, Texas, Friday and defeated the hosting Texas A&M Aggies, achieving scores of 169-131 for the women and a tight 158.5-141.5 win in men’s competition.
Alabama’s Tessa Giele, Cadence Vincent and Mackenzie Brandt were double winners in their individual events. She clocked 21.91 for first in the 50 freestyle and 51.16 for a dominant win in the 100 butterfly. Vincent went 48.23 in the 100 free and 1:45.74 over 200 yards while Brandt won the 500 free (4:45.79) and 1000 free (9:48.46).
Emily Jones won the 200 backstroke in dominant fashion (1:53.26) while Jada Scott was first in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.44). Jones, Scott, Gaby Van Brunt and Charlotte Rosendale combined for a win in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:35.19, and the team of Vincent, Jones, Giele and Van Brunt dominated the 400 free relay (3:14.41).
Texas A&M’s Kaitlyn Owens was the winner of the 100 back (51.06), and Hannah O’Leary won the 200 breast for the Aggies (2:10.73). Ava Whitaker was first in the 200 fly (1:55.28), and Giulia Goerigk topped the 200 IM (1:59.18). In diving, Joslyn Oakley won 1-meter (283.95), and Bridget Foster was first on 3-meter (297.98).
The Alabama men were led by Leonardo Alcantara, the winner of the three longest freestyle events contested. Alcantara opened with a win in the 1000 free in 8:58.70, and he immediately returned to win the 200 free (1:34.53). Later, he dominated the 500 free by four seconds in 4:17.33.
Teammate Tommy Hagar was a double winner in backstroke, coming from behind for first in the 100 (46.78) before dominating the 200 (1:41.16). Sean Niewold also won twice, in the 50 free (19.13) and 100 fly (45.71) while Alabama’s Noah Saylor took first in the 100 breast (53.44).
Texas A&M’s Munzy Kabbara was the clear winner in the 200 fly (1:43.27) as well as the 200 IM (1:44.07). Ben Scholl won the 100 free by one hundredth over Alabama’s Jonathan Hoole, 43.46 to 43.47. Logan Brown was edged by nine hundredths in the 100 breast, but he came out on top in the 200-yard event (1:55.53). Diver Emilio Trevino won both 1-meter (359.78) and 3-meter (405.00).
Finally, the Aggies won a tight 400 free relay in 2:52.35 with a team of Ben Sytsma, Scholl, Alejandro Michelena and Daniil Pancerevas.
