Alli Mann Leads Aztec Swimmers Past USD in Crosstown Dual Meet

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State’s Alli Mann captured three individual event titles on Friday to lead Aztec swimmers to an 81-67 victory over the University of San Diego in a dual meet at USD Sports Center Pool.

The Aztecs emerged triumphant in eight scheduled events, posting at least the top three finishers in six of those races to defeat the Toreros for the second week in a row.

Along with her individual crowns, Mann also swam the third leg of SDSU’s victorious 200 freestyle relay team after completing the butterfly segment of the Aztecs’ second-place 200 medley ‘A’ relay.

In addition, SDSU received winning performances from Abby Storm, Moa Bergahl and Reka Nyiradi to secure their 77th consecutive dual-meet victory dating back to January 2018.

The Aztecs set the tone for the day in the 200 medley relay, where the quartet of Liv Peebles, Roni Black, Charlotte Sevin and Alyssa Schiller joined forces on the Scarlet and Black’s triumphant fourth team, which completed the race with a clocking of 1:45.43, while the ‘A’ team consisting of Nyiradi, Kaydence Bispo, Mann and Julia Reed took second at 1:47.80.

In a meet featuring extended distances, SDSU showcased its tremendous depth with the top seven times in the 150 freestyle, where Mann logged her first victory after touching the wall at 1:21.03, while Nyiradi was second at 1:22.01, followed by Melanie Quinto (1:23.10).

Bispo finished the same event in fourth place with a time of 1:23.63, which was scored as an exhibition, as were the results by Amber Janky (1:24.00), Sierra Tallman (1:24.24) and Grace Mering (1:24.69), who followed in succession.

Shortly thereafter, Mann secured her second title in the 150 butterfly, where she clocked in at 1:31.03, beating out Sevin (1:31.58) and Tallman (1:32.83) for the top spot.

As the meet progressed, Storm was triumphant in the 150 backstroke with a winning effort of 1:29.79, while Peebles was slotted second at 1:31.07, followed by Alex Downing, who placed third at 1:32.98.

Bergdahl took over the spotlight in the 150 breaststroke, where she completed a victorious swim of 1:40.07, edging Black (1:40.63) at the wall, while Elisa Branca (1:44.02) was a distant third.

Mann continued her winning ways in the 400 freestyle with a clocking of 4:04.32, while Bispo finished third at 4:05.46.

SDSU’s deep talent was also on display in the 300 individual medley, where the Scarlet and Black logged the nine fastest times out of 17 competitors. Nyiradi led the way with a victorious performance of 3:13.91, easily outdistancing Black, who took second at 3:19.62, just ahead of Branca (3:19.72).

In addition, Quinto (3:20.25) placed third in the same race, followed by Bergdahl (3:21.58), Janky (3:21.71), Peebles (3:23.85), Tallman (3:23.87) and Mering (3:23.91), with the latter five results deemed exhibitions.

The Aztecs put the finishing touches on another successful meet with a victory in the 200 freestyle relay, as the combo of Nyiradi, Bispo, Mann and Reed completed the event with a winning time of 1:36.51, besting the team of Peebles, Black, Sevin and Schiller (1:3.74).

San Diego State returns to the competition pool on Thursday, Oct. 9, when it travels up the coast for a dual meet against Pepperdine, starting at 10:30 a.m. The Aztecs will continue north to the Central Valley that weekend for the two-day Fresno State Invitational, Oct. 10-11 in Fresno, California.