JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For most freshmen, the transition to the life of a student-athlete at the college level takes time.
They have to get used to the grind of a full class workload, a grueling practice schedule and swim meets. It may take some time for the newbies to make an impact for their team in any sport.
That acclimation time for the freshmen members of the Carson-Newman swimming seems to be winding down as they begin their second semester and ahead of Friday's tri-meet against the Emory & Henry Wasps and the King Tornado at the Kingsport Aquatic Center in Kingsport, Tenn. Emory & Henry only fields a women's team, so it will be a dual meet for the men.
"I think the main reason is now that we have the opportunity to work with them on some of their technical things," swim coach Paige McCord said about her freshmen's progression. "We are able to teach them the next level of their technical understanding, which is really important for us. It's just a time thing and experience, but also, you add into that the technical instruction, which is really strong. My great assistant coaches that really help in that area. We do a lot of video training and that is very beneficial for the athletes.
Sometimes, it takes a little to put those pieces together, but I think they are finally starting to get it but it is really nice across the board."
A few of the Eagles' freshmen have contributed since the beginning of the season in late September. Paul Ungur (Baia Mare, Romania) has set numerous school records and made history in November by swimming the team's first-ever "A" time at the Fall Frenzy. At his last meet against Mount Union in Cocoa Beach, Fla., Ungur picked up his first-career Bluegrass Mountain Conference Swimmer of the Week honor.
Maggie Melhorn (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Margaret Stansberry (Knoxville, Tenn.) have both set five school records during the first five meets at Carson-Newman. Lexy Raybon (Sarasota, Fla.) and Courtlyn Fields (Anderson, S.C.) have both won BMC Swimmer of the Week honors.
But it was the production and wins from some freshmen during the meet with Mount Union that shows that are getting ready to produce at the BMC Championship Meet next month in February.
Ben McCrary (Woodbury, Tenn.), Davis Vincent (Loganville, Ga.) and Andrew Wheeler (Newnan, Ga.) all picked up a win against the Purple Raiders. McCrary won his first-ever event in the 200 Free.
Fields led the women's production with two wins in the 1000 Free and 200 Fly.
"Courtlyn had some of the best swims of the season for her. Of course, she is still a little broken down, not yet tapered, but that definitely bodes well for the future conference and her taper," McCord said. "Davis Vincent also did really well in his backstroke, really coming along, especially towards the end of this year. Of course, the whole squad of freshmen, sophomores and a few juniors are really putting together some great swims for us. I like what we are seeing and I know the team is anxious to get to conferences."
Now, it's up to the freshmen and the rest of the Eagles' roster to swim against the Tornado and Wasps in Kingsport.
Earlier this season, King and Emory & Henry faced off and the Wasps won that meet 146-51.
"This specific pool is very similar to our conference pool and so, the key is our relays," McCord said of the Kingsport Aquatic Center. "However, we are swim a race we have the opportunity to do very rarely, such as the 400 IM, and I think that will be very strong for our IMers. I know Courtlyn Fields and Nancy Claire Smith will benefit from that for sure. Lastly, I think one of the benefits will be that we only do the 200s. We're not going to do any of our 100s, so it's a shorter meet. It won't go quite as long, allow athletes can focus on a lesser amount of events."
The meet gets started Friday evening at 6 p.m. at the Kingsport Aquatic Center in Kingsport, Tenn. Updates will be available at @cnathletics on Twitter and on cneagles.com with full results following the meet.
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