LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Carson-Newman men's and women's swim teams each coasted to pair of victories on Saturday in a tri-meet against Bellarmine University and Maryville University at the Mary T. Aquatics Center on the campus of the University of Louisville.
The women blew out Maryville, 196.5-50.5 and topped Bellarmine, 176-86. The men dominated the Saints 214-24 and clobbered the Knights 194-66.
"Overall, I was very happy with our trip," coach Jordan Taylor said. "The team had been training double for the last week-and-a-half and still managed to find the energy to push themselves through the meet. Considering the swimminers are as tired as they'll be all season and are still producing competitive times, I'm very excited as we move towards conference."
Both teams started the day with victories in the 200 medley relays. On the women's side, the group of Margaret Stansberry (Knoxville, Tenn.), Maggie Melhorn (Knoxville, Tenn.), Elly Culp (West End, N.C.) and Lisa Postma (Leiden, Holland) clocked in at 1.49.50, more than three seconds ahead of the second place team from Bellarmine. Seth Hughes (Kingston, Tenn.), Andrei Roman (Medias, Romania), Andrew Wheeler (Newnan, Ga.) and Garrett Stelling (Eads, Tenn.) combined for a time of 1.35.83 for the men to earn first place.
In the individual races, the Eagles began stretching out their lead. Melhorn continued what's been an outstanding junior season by topping the field in the 200 free and the 200 breaststroke with times of 1:57.46 and 2:26.66, respectively. Culp grabbed first in the 50 free, hitting the wall in 25.04, and the 100 fly, with a time of 1:00.79. Olivia Winkler (Marietta, Ga.) picked up first place finishes in the 200 back, swimming that event in 2:09.84, and the 400 IM, which she swam in 4:39.47.
Leah Allen (Aranda, Australia) also claimed a win on the women's side for C-N, besting the competition in the 1000 free with a time of 10:52.13. Amanda Henderson's (Bartlett, Tenn.) mark of 1:01.08 in the 100 back was good enough for first place. Postma triumphed in the 100 free after finishing it in just 53.65 and Stansberry added to her victory total this season with a win in the 500 free in 5:09.83.
The men earned first place in every race but one and their night included several standout performers as well. Marcelo Figueiredo (Porto Alegre, Brazil) continued to dominate long distance events, taking the 1000 free with a mark of 9:52.98 and edging out a win in the 500 free, finishing it in 4:45.33, less than a second ahead of Bellarmine's Marc McCormick. The 200 fly and the 200 breaststroke were won by Josh Grover (Villa Rica, Ga.) with times of 1:59.73 and 2:11.61.
Coach Taylor also got first place finishes from seven other student-athletes. Ben McCrary outdid the competition in the 200 free by finishing it in 1:47.93. A time of 52.69 for Hughes in the 100 back earned him a W. Roman (Medias, Romania) earned his first individual win as an Eagle in the 100 breaststroke, thanks to a time of 57.49. The 50 free was won by Sam Schechter (Knoxville, Tenn.) in 21.31. Jonny Goss (Heiskell, Tenn.) logged a time of 47.33 in the 100 free for a win. Caleb Howell (Easley, S.C.) triumphed in the 200 back, concluding the race in 1:59.92 and Pijus MacKevicius's (Kaunas, Lithuania) time of 50.72 was the best of the night in the 100 fly.
The night was capped off by two more C-N victories, as the women's and men's 200 freestyle relays both ended up in the win column for the Eagles. Postma, Stansberry, Ksenia Naydenova (Stary Oskol, Russia) and Mary Northcutt got the job done for the women in 1:39.99 and Goss, Schechter, Stelling and Jon Lancaster (Ringgold, Ga.) posted a mark of 1:27.36 for the men.
"It was great to have Amanda Henderson and Andrei Roman back racing for us and both picking up wins," Taylor said. "Robert Griswold (Freehold, N.J.) was also back in action and put in a great effort across three individual performances."
These wins mean both squads remain undefeated in meets against non-Division I competition. The only team to top the Eagles this season has been the Cincinnati Bearcats.
After some time off for Coach Taylor and his pupils, Carson-Newman will take on Emmanuel College in a dual meet on January 13th. The scheduled start time is 3 p.m.
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