Video: Jordan Taylor talks King Invitational
KINGSPORT, TN - The Carson-Newman swim team will travel to Kingsport, Tennessee to open up the 2021-22 season in their first official NCAA meet at the King Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
The event consists of three total sessions, one on Friday evening starting at 4 p.m. and two over the course of Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Other school competing this weekend alongside C-N will be UNC-Pembroke, Catawba, Lees-McRae, Converse, Emory and Henry, Milligan, Barton, Chowan, Mars Hill, and Salem.
"I'm always a fan of going on the road for meets because it seems to bring our team closer together since we are put in situations where we have to support one another in all races," head coach Jordan Taylor said. "We have a lot of newcomers this year who are excited to compete for their first time as an Eagle so we're excited to see them get into action after preparing all season. Our program is growing and becoming stronger so we know and expect to see fast swims starting tomorrow and this weekend."
Taylor prefers the team use this event to set the tone for the rest of the season and as a benchmark to see where his team stands heading into their first King Invitational appearance in two years.
So far this season, Taylor and his team have only seen action in one prior event after having the program's sixth annual Blue v. Orange meet postponed last Friday.
In their lone event, the 2021 CSCAA Open Water National Championships, the Eagles saw impressive performances by a sleuth of first-time performers. On the women's side of action, junior Linda Ungerboeck (Vienna, Austria) led the charge as she collected another top-10 performance with a finish of ninth place and the highest finish among Division II women's swimmers at the event.
Carson-Newman also saw junior Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.) finish in the event's top-15 with a time of 1:06.19.9 as C-N captured the top two Division II women's swimming times at the event.
When the Eagles competed in Lawrence, the Eagles saw a phenomenal effort by a pair of first-timers at the event, as the men's team saw two top-10 times and a top-five finish overall as a team. Leading the charge for C-N was sophomore Denilson Cyprianos (Bulawayo, Matabeleland, Zimbabwe), who was able to capture fourth place in the event with a finishing time of 1:00.57.3. The men's 5k was won by Zach Ondrej of Northern Michigan (56:10.6) followed by Enzo Kihara of Emmanuel College (1:00.13.2) and Samuel Jyawook of Maryland Baltimore County (1:00.16.2).
Joining the sophomore in the top-10 was senior teammate Kodee Eads (Johnson City, Tenn.) who finished eighth with a time of 1:01.52. As both Eagles finished in the men's top-10, they automatically qualify for the United States Open Water National Championships in April of 2022. The event will take place from April 1-3, 2022, from Lynn Hall Park in Fort Myers Beach, Fla.
"I think the athletes who competed at Open Water Nationals are in as good of shape as any of their teammates. Going from swimming an event that last an hour or longer to an event which may last 20 minutes, their level of competition will be the same and it might seem like a sprint event for them," Taylor said. "Overall, we know our program is ready to compete as we will be swimming six out of the next seven weekends. We typically have the Orange and Blue meet to start off the season, but I think going to Kingsport will provide similar preparation as we head into the rest of the season."
Overall, at the Open Water National Championships, the women's team saw 66 total points to their name and finished as the highest-scoring Division II women's program for the fourth time in event history. Meanwhile, their male counterparts gathered 22 points overall and finished third behind Northern Michigan and Emmanuel College.
"There's competition within our program which helps us to push forward and claim faster swims. I think we're excited to start the season off on the road at the King Invitational against some competition we've never seen, but just to get back into the pool is exciting," Taylor said. "We only saw eight athletes compete last month so know we get the chance to see what our other athletes can do as they have been preparing all semester for this opportunity. Everyone seems to be in great shape and I think we could make a lot of noise this weekend with fast swims and competitive performances."
While most dual-meets will have about two-thirds of all of the college swims, invitational competitions such as this one feature every event run at this level.
The Eagles look ahead to getting into the water and splashing into the 2021-22 season as they head to Kingsport for the two-day event from the Kingsport Aquatic Center.
Be sure to keep up with the C-N swim team all season long on all of Carson-Newman's social media platforms and at cneagles.com.
