VIDEO: Jordan Taylor Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – After nearly a month off following three days at the Bearcats Midseason Invitational in Cincinnati, the Carson-Newman swim team will travel to the Mary T. Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Louisville for a tri-meet on Saturday against Bellarmine University and Maryville University. The schedule start time is 12 p.m.
"The time off has given us the chance to get back into some hard work," coach Jordan Taylor said. "We're getting back in the pool and working hard in the weight room. We're into our winter training now. It's good to have this meet. It gives us something to focus on before the end of the year. With all the hard work, it gives our student-athletes something to look forward to."
Coach Taylor's team is coming off an event in which they went up against Division I competition and proceeded to break eight Carson-Newman records. The women's side finished the meet in second place out of three teams with a score of 608, more than 300 points better than Division I Indiana State. The women are currently ranked 11th in Division II according to CollegeSwimming.com and against Division II competition, they have had a swimmer finish first in 34 consecutive races. Two more first place finishes in Cincy gave them a total of 37 this season. The men have been ranked as high as sixth this fall and currently sit at No. 21. Their streak of first place finishes currently stands at 29 and they also grabbed the top spot seven times at the Bearcats Midseason Invitational. The Eagles combined to sweep their last two dual meets, routing the University of the Cumberlands and King (Tenn.) after taking their initial dual meet against Limestone.
C-N has gotten first place finishes from 22 different swimmers this season and 15 of those players have won multiple races. The women have been led by Maggie Melhorn (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Margaret Stansberry (Knoxville, Tenn.) so far this fall. Mellhorn has six victories to her credit, a national B qualifying time in the 100 breaststroke and recently broke the program record for fastest time in the 100 individual medley and the 200 breaststroke. Stansberry has a new record of her own, as she posted a new Carson-Newman best in the 200 IM. She's also posted a B qualifying time in the 200 free and has picked up five wins.
The standout performers on the men's side have been Jon Lancaster (Ringgold, Ga.) and Marcelo Figueiredo (Porto Alegre, Brazil). Lancaster has a team-best eight victories this season, including three at the Bearcats Midseason Invitational, where he also set an Eagle record in the 100 IM. Figueiredo's year has included four wins and two new entries into the club record book, first in the 500 free and also in the 1650 free.
"We just had a great freestyle set with the whole team," Taylor said. "Marcelo and Jon were leading the charge on that set and are pushing the bar as high as possible and showing the team what's manageable. The rest of the team is holding on to their coattails and going with it as best they can."
The Eagles are also welcoming back sophomore Robert Griswold (Freehold, N.J.), who will be competing in his first collegiate event of the fall. Griswold recently returned to Mossy Creek after competing in the Paralympics, where he won a bronze medal in the S8 100 back.
"It's cool to have Robert back," Taylor said. "He's a character. He's eligible for the rest of the season. It's good to have someone back on the team who's done a lot this semester without actually being here. He's a big part of this program and everyone is proud of what he achieved this summer. It's exciting to have out full team back."
For Bellarmine, this will mark their fifth event of the fall and they have struggled to find success so far. After both the men and the women finished third out of six teams at the Derby City Invitational on Oct. 8th, their initial meet of the season, they dropped a dual meet to the University of Findlay on Oct. 29th. At a quad meet at the University of Indianapolis one week later, the women picked up a win over McKendree, but lost to Indianapolis and Lewis, while the men went 0-3. In their most recent competition, the Knights finished 10th out of 12 teams at the House of Champions meet nearly a month ago.
Last year, the Eagles and the Knights met at Maddox Pool for a dual meet and C-N walked away with a 387-131 combined victory. They claimed wins in 25 of the day's 28 events, with Sam Schechter (Knoxville, Tenn.), Maggie Melhorn (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Olivia Winkler (Marietta, Ga.) each contributing a pair of victories.
This will be the seventh competition for Maryville this fall. Their most recent event came two weeks ago, when they battled Eastern Illinois, Saint Louis and Wabash in a quad meet, but were unable to pick up any victories. The lone win of the fall for the women came in tri-meet last month, when they outscored the University of Missouri-St. Louis, while the men are still searching for their first win.
Once the action concludes in Louisville, visit cneagles.com for results and a full recap of all the day's events.
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