KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman swim team is gearing up for their mid-season event at the Tennessee Invitational from Nov. 19 to Nov.20 in Knoxville, TN.
The Eagles, ranked 5th in the nation on the women's side while the men have been tabbed 8th overall, are coming off a dominant 312-169 win over Lees-McRae College in their home opener in Jefferson City, TN.
The Eagles were dominant once the whistle finally blew to start action as they won 20 out of the 26 total events from the MSAC pool on the campus of Carson-Newman Saturday.
The Eagles saw victories in every relay on Saturday as well as a pair of individual victories from freshman Hobson Stelling (Memphis, Tenn.) and Felix Lund (Herlev, Denmark). As the Eagles continued to prepare for the conclusion of their fall season next week, no female athlete won more than one event on Saturday.
Hobson Stelling got his day started as the winner of the men's 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 58.79 seconds. The Memphis, Tenn. native then gathered his second win of the day with a time of 46.49 in the men's 100-yard freestyle. Stelling was ecstatic to get back into the pool as he and his teammates prepare for the UT Invitational next week.
Felix Lund would first get the victory in the men's 50-yard freestyle with a final time of 21.27. This was huge for C-N as the second-place finisher, Caleb Eidson of the Bobcats, was closely behind as he finished second with a time of 21.29.
C-N has been preparing for this year's UT Invitational event since the start of the season, as it will serve as the last organized competition of the fall semester and will be used as a benchmark to see the team's progress since August.
"This is the meet we've been talking about and preparing for all semester. We've had some quality chances to go out and compete this fall and use those as dress rehearsals for the next three days as we go up against some of the fastest swimmers in this area and the world," Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "We know that it will be tough to make the finals of each night, but this is the type of environment we see when it comes to Conference and Nationals later on in the season. We tell our athletes that if you want a spot in the 'A' finals at Conference and even Nationals, you have to perform your best in the morning to get there."
First-place finishes may be especially challenging to secure this weekend because C-N will be going up against prominent NCAA Division I programs in the Universities of Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Arkansas (women only), Virginia, and UNLV.
On the men's side, Virginia was placed in the preseason top-15 by the CSCAA while Tennessee comes in at number 17 for the preseason poll. Through their competition thus far in 2021, both Virginia (773.15 points) and Tennessee (759.55) are ranked in the top-15 for DI men's swimming. UNLV men's swimming is in the top-25 as well as they have collected 750.25 points in 2021.
For the women's side of competition, Virginia currently holds the number one placement in DI women's swimming with 853.40 points thus far in 2021 after capturing and being named National Champions last season. Tennessee women's swimming is also in the top-10 as they have compiled 787.30 points to be number nine according to CollegeSwimming. Both Arkansas (749.95) and Alabama (749.20) are in the top-20 for DI women's swimming this season as well heading into Knoxville.
This is the first time the Eagles will see action in this event since the 2019 season due to the COVID impact on last fall season.
"It speaks volume for our program to be constantly invited back to this invitational as it is one of the fastest invitationals in the country every year. We're not just being invited because we're close by, but our ability to set lifetime bests, set school records, and constantly compete amongst these Division I programs allows Tennessee to see us as a "little brother" and want us there," Taylor said. "We'll see some athletes on the pool deck who just recently swam in Tokyo representing their country and swimming amongst the globe's best, so we know what we're capable of in some people's eyes."
More important to the team than winning the event is setting season and lifetime best times in their main events so that they can qualify for nationals as individuals and help the team's national ranking improve as well.
"These next three days will be a good benchmark 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, but we know what is ahead of us and how we need to tackle the UT Invitational," Taylor said. "I'm honored to see the distance our program has come since the inception in 2013, so I think this weekend will allow us to be seen as a strong Division II swimming program and maybe even push the Division I programs to improve and make it interesting."
Action begins every day from the Allan Jones Aquatic Center at 10:00 a.m. with event prelims followed by diving prelims at 1:00 p.m. Each day will conclude with event finals starting at 5:00 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 4:30 p.m. on Saturday from Knoxville.
Be sure to keep up with the C-N swim team all season on C-N's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.
