VIDEO: Jordan Taylor Interview
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – On day three of the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Ala., the Carson-Newman swim team continued adding to its list of accomplishments, as three times, the Eagles placed themselves among the best in the nation.
For the second consecutive season, Lexy Raybon (Sarasota Fla.) earned recognition as an All-American, garnering the honor in the women's 200 fly. Her time of 2:03.09 placed her eighth in the country and she added to a list of accolades that includes being named an All-American in the 800 free relay in 2016. Raybon qualified for the "A" final by registering a time of 2:02.06 in the preliminary stage, shattering the previous school record by nearly two seconds.
"Lexy's performance today was great," said C-N swim coach Jordan Taylor. "She's done a lot of tough fly sets this year. She's a tough girl when it comes to the 200 fly and she proved that this morning. Being in the national final was a great experience for her and being named All-American was a well-deserved honor."
"I didn't expect this at all," said Raybon. "When I finished the race, I asked coach "Is this real? Am I really an All-American?" It's a surreal experience. I had to go the last chance meet to earn this spot. It's an awesome feeling."
Maggie Melhorn (Knoxville, Tenn.) also picked up her second Honorable Mention All-American selection of the meet when she finished 12th in the women's 100 breaststroke. After breaking the school record in the event during the preliminaries with a time of 1:02.32, she clocked in at 1:02.49 in the "B" final.
One other record that fell during the preliminary swims was the program mark in the men's 200 free. Jon Lancaster (Ringgold, Ga.) was a member of the squad's men's 800 free relay team and he completed his leg of the race in 1:38.81, topping the old record of 1:38.95 set by Stephen Parsons in 2015.
In their final event on Friday night, coach Taylor's team again gained national recognition, this time in the 800 free relay. Melhorn and Raybon were joined by Margaret Stansberry (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Nancy Claire Smith (Franklin, Tenn.) and they combined for a time of 7:28.78, the 12th fastest mark in Division II. This makes two years-in-a-row C-N has excelled in this race. In 2016, this quartet finished fifth at the NCAA Championships.
Through three days of competition, the title of All-American or Honorable Mention All-American has been bestowed upon the Eagles in nine events and 24 student-athletes have earned the honor.
One more day of competition remains for the competitors in Birmingham and it will include the final swims for the Eagles during the 2016-17 season. Stansberry will be competing in the women's 100 free, while Melhorn is set to swim in the 200 breaststroke. The Eagles will also field teams in the women's and men's 400 free relays. Once again, live coverage of every event is available on ncaa.com and a recap of the proceedings will be posted on cneagles.com.
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