JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 20 Carson-Newman men's swimming continued its unbeaten streak at home that dates back to the 2013 season after upsetting No. 10 Wingate following Saturday's dual meet with the Bulldogs by a final of 170.5 to 144.50.
"Really proud of them it's a big achievement for our guy's program," Coach Jordan Taylor said. "It's something we have targeted knowing last spring we would have Wingate to open up the season. They've been working hard towards it and to actually come out and do it and prove that we can do it with the depth we now have, it's great. The thing that really made me proud is we were loud throughout the meet."
C-N led by five following last night's events 76.5 to 71.5 but was able to pull away thanks to some impressive swims on the day once again from junior Caleb Howell.
Following wins in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard breaststroke on Friday, the Easley, S.C. native grabbed top times in those extended distance events with a 2:05.25 time in the 200-yard breaststroke and 4:09.89 in the 400-yard individual medley.
"It feels really good coming in as the underdogs and being able to come out on top," Howell said. "It's something that got us really excited having that opportunity to win heading into the day. Being able to beat them and show everybody else in the conference and the nation that we are here to do better than we ever have before and that's something I take a lot of pride in."
Jonny Goss, Andrei Unger, and Matthew George all turned in top times in their respective events to help grab a total of 27 points for the team
Goss made it back-to-back wins for the Eagles in the 50-yard freestyle following Lisa Postma's swim of 24.47 seconds. The senior swimmer checked in with a time of 21.08 seconds. Postma's win was her second individual win of the meet.
Andrie Unger took the victory in the 100-yard backstroke event helping C-N keep at pace with the Bulldogs registering a time of 50.77.
George's time in the 200-yard freestyle helped push the Eagles lead in Event 30 with a time of 1:43.40. Marcel Figueiredo kept close with a second-place finish at 1:43.62 narrowly edging Lukas Kraft of Wingate at 1:43.70.
In the final event of the night, the C-N 'B' side of Jon Lancaster, Unger, Howell, and Figueiredo sealed the win for the Eagles with a time of 3:06.17. The C-N 'A' side of Seth Hughes, Goss, Nikola Tadic, and Chad Andoljsek followed up with the second spot and four points at a time of 3:06.64.
Wingate flipped the script to start the morning winning the first four events of the day, something C-N accomplished in day one. The C-N men's 200-yard medley relay team of Seth Hughes, Andrei Roman, Ivo Kunzle, and Chad Andoljsek turned in a time of 1:33.70 but were edged by Wingate's 'A' side by .05 seconds. The Bulldogs took the event on the women's side and also swept the 1000-yard freestyle.
Clay Hardenbrook put together another personal-best swim for the second day in a row following a time of 54.12 in the 100-yard backstroke topping his previous best by .01 seconds.
Wingate held the advantage in the combined score following the two-day dual meet 344-286. The No. 18-ranked women would fall at the MSAC pool to the No. 9-ranked Bulldogs for the first time since the program's inaugural season in 2013 by a final of 199.5-115.50.
The women's 400-yard freestyle relay foursome of Postma, Gabby Aguiar, Yulia Fomina, and Elly Culp notched 11 points with a first-place finish with a time of 3:34.95, nearly two seconds better than Wingate's side in second at 3:36.44.
C-N will return to the pool on Nov. 2-3 for the Emory Invite in Atlanta, Georgia. Wingate is also expected to be in attendance.
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