CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman swim team saw two school top-three finishes and multiple All-Conference-worthy performances at the finals of day one of the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships in the Queen City.
"Overall, it was a really good day for our team," Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "Great performances all around, people were getting lifetime-bests and school records were broken today. We got a lot of people into finals and they were going faster at night which is what we want to see."
Senior Caleb Howell (Easley, S.C.) took home first-place in the men's 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:45.90, securing a gold medal and BMC conference champion honors.
The mark was a lifetime-best and the fastest time ever recorded by an Eagle in the event.
Sophomore Mathew George (Manchester, England) took seventh in the event at 1:50.42. It was a lifetime best mark that should serve as a national 'B' time, meaning George may be able to participate in that event at the NCAA National Championships in March.
Sophomore Roberts Zemturis (Ventspils, Kurzeme) finished second in the men's 50-yard freestyle, tapping the wall at 20.04. Zemturis received All-Conference laurels for the finish.
The underclassmen broke a school record in the 50-yard freestyle during prelims with a lifetime-best time of 19.96.
Zemturis was followed by fellow Eagles Nikita Puzevich (Belarus), Chad Andoljsek (Slovenia) and Raphael de Paiva (Sao Paula, Brazil). The trio finished fourth, fifth and seventh respectively.
Puzevich and Andoljsek will receive All-Conference honors, as the award is bestowed upon those that finish inside the top-six in 'A' finals.
C-N saw sophomore Andrei Ungur (Romania) take first place in the 50-yard freestyle 'B' final at a time of 20.11, a lifetime-best.
On the women's side, freshman Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.) finished the 1000-yard freestyle in 10:19.06, strong enough for an All-Conference-deserving fifth-place mark. It was a season-best time for Peden in her BMC Championships debut.
It was the first final event of the day.
"For her to come out there first and perform the way she did, that was really impressive," Taylor said. "It was a great time for her as a freshman."
Fellow freshman Linda Ungerboeck placed seventh at 10:20.59, a lifetime best
Freshman Manon Compagner (Balkbrug, Netherlands) ended up fourth in the 50-yard freestyle in the 'A' final. It's a lifetime-best time and the first All-Conference honor for the newcomer.
Senior Mary Northcutt (Huntsville, Ala.) placed seventh in the event.
Two Eagles, sophomore Meredith Ginn (Ocala, Fla.) and junior CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) took home top finishes in the 'B' final of the women's 200-yard individual medley.
Ginn won the event at 2:03.46, a lifetime best time. Jensen took second at the event at 2:04.63, missing a school record by .2 seconds.
The only relays ran today were the 200-yard medley. Both the men and women of C-N placed third in the event.
For the women, Jensen, Allyson Metcalf, Laurel Sankowski and Northcutt teamed up to secure bronze.
It was the first All-Conference award for the senior, Metcalf, who has been a leader for the Eagles.
"As a senior, it was awesome to see her get her first medal, her first All-Conference title," Taylor said. "That was really cool and we're all really happy for her."
On the men's end, Ungur, Andoljsek, Ryland Darling (Arlington, Tenn.) and Ivo Kunzle (Asuncion, Paraguay) combined their efforts to take third.
All-Conference awards are given to relay teams that finish inside the top three, so both sides took home such honors.
The Eagles return to action tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the preliminary race of day two of the BMC Championships.
Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman swim team on C-N's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.
