VIDEO: Jordan Taylor Previews Winter Round Robin
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman swim team is gearing up for their final events of 2020 as they travel to Charlotte, N.C. for the three-day Winter Round Robin hosted by Queens University from Dec. 16 to Dec. 18 at the Levine Aquatic Center.
The Eagles, ranked 6th in the nation on the women's side while the men have been tabbed 7th overall, are coming off a back-and-forth 333-297 defeat by Wingate in the team's second home dual meet of the season on Nov. 14.
This will mark the first time since the 2015-16 season that the Eagles will travel to Charlotte for regular-season competition. First-place finishes may be especially challenging to secure over the next three days because C-N will be going up against prominent NCAA Division II programs and fellow BMC foes in Wingate, Queens (N.C.), and Lenoir-Rhyne. All three opponents are ranked within the top-25 at the DI level while Wingate and Queens are in the top-five on both sides.
"This is a perfect way to close out our semester and a crazy 2020 year. Our team has gotten through a lot of trick times and uncertainty," Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "We've had probably some of the fastest dual meet times in C-N history, which lends to us becoming closer as a team. The whole team is excited and ready to go to prove what they're made of and show their strengths."
C-N has been preparing for this event and focusing on quickness, speed, and depth as this season has progressed. This will be the last organized meet for the Eagles in 2020, so it will serve as a major benchmark of the team's progress since the season started.
Since Carson-Newman started competition, here are the head-to-head records against this week's competition:
Wingate: Bulldogs lead series 5-1 overall
Queens: Royals lead series 6-0 overall
Lenoir-Rhyne: Eagles lead series 4-0
The Eagles will compete against the Queens (N.C.) Royals on Dec 16 at 5 pm, before facing the Wingate Bulldogs Dec. 17 at 5 pm and the Bears of Lenoir-Rhyne at 1 pm on Dec. 18. The Eagles will face one squad a day, so in case future meets do not occur, the meet minimum for Nationals is still valid.
"It's been a few weeks since we've raced, but we've had several intrasquad competition the last few weeks. They're excited to get on the road and travel to Charlotte," Taylor said. "The format of this meet should gain for better competition and fast results. Three-day event allows for events to be spread out more, and more condusive of top-level swimming. Once we head out tomorrow, the team is on a mission and will be loud like we have always been."
More important to the team than winning the event is setting season and lifetime best times in their main events so that they can qualify for nationals as individuals and help the team's national ranking improve as well.
"Message for this whole season is to make the most of our opportunities. We're not guaranteed a future spring season, but we have this meet in front of us so go make the most of each day," Taylor said. "This meet is a stepping stone to put together the best races possible and continue learning from how we do. It allows us as coaches to better analyze our athletes and help them take this chance to be better going into the spring and future meets."
All three days of event activity will be livestreamed on the Wingate Bulldog's YouTube channel. Links are provided at cneagles.com.
Be sure to keep up with the C-N swim team all season on C-N's social media platforms and at cneagles.com.
-CN-
