KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The temperatures may be frigid outside, but Carson-Newman swim was heating up in the pool as they continued their time in Knoxville. The Eagles secured another day of lifetime-best times across the board and saw finishes worthy of National Championship qualification at day two of the University of Tennessee Invitational in Knoxville.
C-N, ranked 5th on the women's side and 8th on the men's in Division II, finished the day in sixth place on both sides against multiple nationally-ranked Division I programs. The women have amassed 113 points while the men have put 133 on the board.
"We knew what this event and these days would mean for our program as we continue working toward our goal of winning and competing at Nationals and Conference against the likes of Wingate and Queens," Carson-Newman head coach Jordan Taylor said. "We know what we are facing and seeing, but our ability to make top program times and even break program records allows us to be seen as a top Division II swimming program."
For the second straight night of action, a male athlete has stamped his name into the Carson-Newman record books. After it was teammate Igor Dantas achieving the feat on Thursday, sophomore Nicolas Lenuza (Spain) went out and broke the second program record in as many days for the Eagles with his efforts in the men's 100-yard butterfly Friday night.
After only being 0.02 away from breaking the record in the prelims, Lenuza overtook Andrei Ungur's 2020 time of 47.71 as he swam a finals time of 47.65 to finish 11th and call himself the new program record holder in the event. Lenuza was not only able to set the record but do so against some quality Division I opposition from Tennessee, Virginia, UNLV, and South Carolina.
Lenuza qualified for the 'B' finals after he swam a prelim time of 47.73 as he continues to be a force in the event for C-N. After setting the program record, Lenuza is now in sole possession of four of the top five event times for Carson-Newman. Only the aforementioned Andrei Ungur sits in the top-five alongside Lenuza as Ungur holds the second-fastest event time with his 47.71 showing at the 2020 Conference Championships.
"He is a really talented athlete and really engaged since he showed up to campus," Taylor said. "To watch his continual development in the skills of starts, turns and transitions. In his races, we knew what he was capable of and that he could swim fast but because of tuning his attention and capability, he's been able to get everything out of his results races and has been able to develop very quickly."
Junior Manon Compagner swam a time of 54.53 in the 100-yard butterfly prelims to claim a spot in the event's 'D' finals amongst swimmers from Arkansas, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, and UNLV. This is now the fourth-fastest time in program history.
The junior was able to best her prelims time from Friday morning as she swam a finals time of 54.48 as part of the 'C' finals. Compagner's time is the third-fastest in program history and allows Compagner to maintain a grasp on four of the top five event times for an Eagle, including her school record set at the 2020 Nationals.
In the men's 200-yard freestyle, Igor Dantas (Indaiatuba, Brazil) who set a school record last night, saw a prelims time of 1:36.70 and a 12th place finish to set himself a place in the event's 'B' finals. His prelims times sits as the third-fastest event time by an Eagle.
Junior Kailee Morgan (Greenville, S.C.) swam a time of 1:01.76 in the women's 100-yard breaststroke prelims. It is the third-fastest time in program history, maintains her grasp on four of the top five event times for an Eagle, and automatically qualifies the Greenville native for Nationals later this season and a spot in the event's 'B' finals.
In the event finals, Morgan would not only best her prelims time but secure her highest personal finish in the event with a time of 1:01.27. This time allows Morgan to secure the second-fastest event time for an Eagle and was only 0:00.13 away from tying Maggie Melhorn's record from 2018.
On the men's side of the 100-yard breaststroke, Thanos Diamanditis set a new personal best in the event as he swam a finals time of 55.10, which is now the third-fastest time for an Eagle in the event. This allows the Greece native to hold two of the top five event times in program history. His 55.10 finals time was more than a second faster than his prelims time of 56.34.
"For me, the whole team, right across the roster, people are making finals when we were unsure if they were able to make finals at this level of meet," Taylor said.
The highest women's 200-yard medley relay would finish in a time of 1:42.68. The team for C-N would be Kyla Blakemore (Durban, South Africa), Kailee Morgan, Chrisman Rand (Mount Pleasant, S.C.), and Meredith Ginn (Ocala, Fla.) as the quartet came in 12th overall to capture 10 event points for the Eagles. The time also qualifies the quartet for Nationals later this season.
The women then finished the 800-yard freestyle relay in 7:35.77, as the quartet of Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.), Manon Compagner, Summer Osborne (Clearwater, Fla.), and CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) finished 10th.
On the men's side, the 200-yard medley relay, the 'B' team of Nick Rennhack (Colleyville, Tex.), Asger Hartvig (Hoersholm, Denmark), Zack Telep (Knoxville, Tenn.), and Logan Ridge McCay were primed and ready to go Friday as they captured a fourth-place finish in a time of 1:32.35.
Following closely behind, Carson-Newman 'A' team of Nikita Puzevich (Belarus), Thanos Diamanditis (Athens, Greece), Colin Tindall (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), and Carson Jones (Southaven, Miss.) came in fifth place for the event in 1:32.66.
The men then finished the 800-yard freestyle relay in 6:35.76 to gather ninth place, as the closest Division I opponent was Tennessee 'C' team who finished in 6:35.00 to gather eighth place in the event.
The quartet of Igor Dantas, Matthew George, Hobson Stelling, and Nicolas Lenuza were only 0:00.36 away from tying the school record time of 6:35.40 set at the 2020 Conference Championships. However, the four Eagles were able to muster enough momentum to surpass and finish in front of Division I powerhouse, UNLV, who finished with a time of 6:40.19. Currently, UNLV is the 23rd ranked team in all Division I men's swimming.
"We're in a really good place," Taylor said. "Great performances and everyone had something positive to take away from their swims, even if it wasn't quite a best time, there was still good things in those races and also some things to work on."
The third and final day of the invitational wraps up tomorrow with prelims starting at 10:00 a.m. before finals begin at 4:30 p.m.
