JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles dropped a pair of swimming meets to the Limestone Saints, losing the men's meet 157-105, and the women's meet 139-113 at the Maddox Swimming Pool on Saturday afternoon.

The meets marked the first NCAA competition for the Carson-Newman, which is undergoing its inaugural season in collegiate swimming.

"I was pleased to see specifically some of our young freshmen step up, they did very well, also I think we learned a lot in today's meets," said Carson-Newman head coach Paige McCord. "It's always good to see the support from our fans, I'm very proud of our athletes and that they were able to put on a good show for our fans."

The Carson-Newman men's team was paced by junior Stephen Parson (Auburn, Ala.) who picked up victories in the men's 200-yard and 100-yard freestyle heats. His time in the 200-yard race was 1:43, with his 100-yard time of :46.41. Parsons also anchored Carson-Newman's 400 yard freestyle relay, helping C-N finish just under a second shy of Limestone.

"I think the story of the day was Stephen's anchoring on that relay," said McCord. "He went very close to a best time, almost ran down that Limestone swimmer."

Freshman Ethan Webster (Suwanee, Ga.), also earned a pair of wins in the 1000-yard freestyle (10:02) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:58).

On the women's side the Eagles saw freshman Natalie Burnett (Sevierville, Tenn.) pick up victories in the 100-yard butterfly (:59.04) and 200-yard butterfly (2:10.33).

"She had some strong butterfly for us today and stepped up on the backstroke leading off that relay," McCord said. "She had her best time in the 200-yard butterfly at 2:10 and I'm really proud of that as well."

Carson-Newman won the women's 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:51, and freshman Samantha Starnes (Knoxville, Tenn.) won the women's 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:18.

Carson-Newman will next hit the pool on Tues. Nov. 5, welcoming Milligan College to the Maddox Swimming Pool. The meet begins at 6 p.m.