VIDEO: Jordan Taylor Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – The Carson-Newman swim team is preparing for their first dual meet of the season, as they will host the 25th ranked Limestone Saints, one of their rivals in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference, on Saturday at 1pm at Maddox Pool.
"It should be a great atmosphere," Swim Coach Jordan Taylor said. "We'll be competitive for every single point, whether its fighting for fifth and sixth or first and second. No one individual can win this meet for us. We have to do it as a team."
The Eagles, who are receiving votes in the CSCAA Coaches poll, have competed in one event this season, as they began September in Lawrence, Kansas at the CSCAA Open Water Championships. In a field that included several Division I programs, both the men and the women posted strong showings, with the men coming in second and the women finishing fourth.
The top two swimmers for C-N in Lawrence were a pair of newcomers. Sophomore Marcelo Figueiredo (Porto Alegre, Brazil) finished in second place, less than a second behind the leader. Freshman Leah Allen (Aranda, Australia) posted the best finish among Carson-Newman swimmers on the women's side, as she placed seventh.
"We've been going through the lineups over the last couple days," Taylor said, "and trying to work out what's going to be the strongest format for Saturday. We've got a lot of depth to pick from, which is a great problem to have. It's going to take a lot for any team to come here and beat us this season."
Limestone has a new head coach at helm this season, as Edward Gillie was hired in June. The first year coach is already off to a successful start, as his men's team finished first in the Saints' first event of the year, the Conference Carolina's Invite, while the women's squad came in second. Last week, they traveled to Catawba for a dual meet and both squads picked up a victory. The women earned a win in dominating fashion, taking nine of their fourteen events with Sophie Bosserhoff and Geena Greevelink finishing first in a pair of events. The men's team won by a narrow margin as they benefitted from a pair of victories by Jorn Frerichs.
Last season, the Saints' men's team placed 22nd in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Two of their student-athletes were named honorable mention All-Americans at the championships, Jake Minasi and Tobias Feigl earned the honors. Both are back in the pool for Limestone this season.
Saturday marks the third time the Saints and Eagles will square off in a dual meet. Limestone has won both times in the men's competition, but the women's teams have split their two contests, with C-N winning by a large margin last season.
"Limestone is a bit of a rival of ours," Taylor said. "They're a very strong team, especially on the guys side, they've got a lot of international athletes who compete at the NCAA National Championships each year. They'll bring a great level of competition."
After the meet has concluded, a rundown of all the action will be posted on cneagles.com.
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