VIDEO: Jordan Taylor Previews Mars Hill

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - The Carson-Newman swim team returns to action for the first time since mid-December when they host Mars Hill University for a dual meet in the Volunteer State on Jan. 16 at 1 p.m.

The Eagles last saw official competition from Dec. 16 to Dec. 18 at the inaugural Winter Round Robin in Charlotte, N.C. where the squad set multiple lifetime or career best and had two swimmers set new program records.

"I'm excited to get back into competition. We have a couple swimmers back who weren't here in the Fall, especially with them being seniors and providing more leadership." Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "As for the break between meets, we've been back doing weights and practicing when we can in order to get ready for the next couple of weeks." 

The team last saw the Lions in dual-meet fashion in January of 2020 where came away with victories in every event and a team victory of 319-82 on Senior Day. This year's Eagles are currently ranked 6^th overall on the women's side and 7th for the men in all DII.  

"We've told the team all along that the mantra for this year is one day at a time. We may not be able to hold practice every day or compete when we think so, but what we can do is focus on ourselves and improve one day at a time." Taylor said. "We're really excited to get back into action against Mars Hill on Saturday and continue improving ourselves as Conferences come up."

This event precedes two events against formidable foes, Emmanuel (Ga.) on Jan. 30 and Lees-McRae on Feb. 6. After competing with Mars Hill, the Eagles have a quick "detour" when they hold the annual Orange v. Blue intrasquad competition next Friday, Jan. 22, inside the MSAC.

"Yes, a lot of our athletes and swimmers have their focus on Conference in five weeks and then Nationals (in Alabama) in a couple months. However, myself and the other coaches are working on telling them to focus on what is ahead of them this week and over the next couple weeks. If you do not perform your best now, you may not perform that well on the bigger stages." Taylor said. "Just go out there and prepare for what we know we can do, and our success will come from that preparation. Be prepared to practice like Michael Phelps and show what you're made of."

The spring season then progresses after all regular season meets toward Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships from Feb. 18 to Feb. 21 in Fort Mill, S.C. The Eagles will look to go beyond BMC Championships and make another appearance in the National Championships, Mar. 17^th to Mar. 20^th, after completing their regular-season competition.

Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman swim team all season long on cneagles.com and on all of C-N's social media platforms.

-CN-