CINCINNATI, Ohio – In a week that's been full of outstanding performances and new records, the Carson-Newman swim team capped three days of competition at the Bearcats Midseason Invitational in Cincinnati, Ohio with another excellent night inside the Keating Aquatics Center.
"I couldn't be more proud of this team and the way they handled themselves the whole weekend," coach Jordan Taylor said. "There were so many great swims over the three days. The hard work is paying off and it is exciting to think where we will be as a team come conference and nationals in a few months."
On this night, it didn't take long for the first record to fall. The second race was the men's 1650 freestyle and Marcelo Figueiredo (Porto Alegre, Brazil), who broke the C-N record in 500 free on Thursday, put his name in the record books again. He posted a time of 15:51.46, more than 26 seconds better than previous program best.
Up next was the women's 100 individual medley and Maggie Melhorn (Knoxville, Tenn.) stole the show in that event by setting another C-N record. She finished in 58.49, which not only set a Carson-Newman record, but was also good enough for first place, more than a second-and-a-half ahead of the field.
The Eagles grabbed a second consecutive victory by taking the next event, the men's 100 IM, which was won by Jon Lancaster (Ringgold, Ga.). The sophomore, who took down his school's record in that race in the morning, did it again in the evening by slicing 35-hundreths of a second off his time for a mark of 52.05.
Melhorn added one more new entry into the Carson-Newman record books in the women's 200 breaststroke. She hit the wall in 2:17.35, breaking her own record that she set in 2015.
Melhorn and her teammates on the women's side finished the meet with a score of 608, besting the Indiana State Sycamores, who could only put up 301 points. The C-N men complete three days of racing with a mark of 691. The men's and women's teams from the University of Cincinnati each came out on top, the men totaling 907 points and the women putting up 922.
The next chance for the Eagles to get back in the pool will come in February, when they compete in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships, which are currently scheduled for February 8th – 11th. You can visit cneagles.com for updates on the squad.
-CN-