JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Eagles men's and women's swimming teams will return to action this weekend, facing Lenoir-Rhyne and Catawba in a tri-meet at the Shuford Physical Education Center Pool in Hickory, N.C. on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The tri-meet marks a return to action for Carson-Newman after last competing in Pensacola, Fla., on Jan. 2.
"This meet against L-R and Catawba will be a clear way to see where we are at in the season and adjust, as needed, our resting plans for the conference meet," said Carson-Newman head swimming coach Paige McCord. "The competition will be fierce and there will be some really good battles – especially in the relays. I'm looking forward to see how we perform."
In Pensacola, the women's quad-meet featured Carson-Newman against Darton State, Queens, and host West Florida, while the men's competition was a tri-meet against Queens and Darton State. In the men's events, Queens defeated Carson-Newman 119-74. In the women's events, Carson-Newman fell to Queens 125-71, and fell to West Florida 133-72.
Freshman Natalie Burnett (Sevierville, Tenn.) won the women's 50-yard freestyle with a time of 24.57. Burnett also finished second in the women's 100-yard butterfly with a time of 58.07. Carson-Newman won the men's 200-yard freestyle relay, as the team of Luke Johnson, Drew Rutledge, Ben Young, and Stephen Parsons posted a time of 1:28.23.
Freshman Tommy Bourgeois (Kingsport, Tenn.) won the men's 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:09.13. The Eagles took the top four spots in the event with freshman Brandon Calfee (Morristown, Tenn.) coming in second at 5:20.22, freshman Austin Murphy (Morristown, Tenn.) coming in third at 5:24.18, and freshman D.J. Smith (Johnson City, Tenn.) was fourth with a time of 5:52.75.
Freshman Kent Eldreth (Knoxville, Tenn.) won the men's 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.33. Eldreth also finished third in the men's 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:01.33.
Lenoir-Rhyne is coming off of a tri-meet last weekend against Queens and St. Andrews. In their men's competition, Lenoir-Rhyne fell to both St. Andrews (123-56) and Queens (105-66) while Queens edged St. Andrews, 92-82. Meanwhile, on the women's side, L-R downed St. Andrews (109-17) but lost to Queens by a 102-56 score.
Catawba has been ranked in the Top 25 this season, and on Jan. 7 the Indians fell to the University of North Florida and UNC Wilmington in its last competition in Jacksonville, Fla.
Full results of the tri-meet will be available on www.cneagles.com.
