KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Senior sprinter Igor Dantas (Indaiatuba, Brazil) highlights a fun-filled day of swimming for Carson-Newman as they wrap up the first day of competition at the Tennessee Invitational.
After swimming a prelims time of 19.99, Igor Dantas would claim a spot in the event 'B' finals as he looked to keep making his mark in CNWS history. Well, the Emmanuel College transfer did exactly that as he claimed a finals time of 19.72. This time sets a new school record and allows Dantas to fit the qualification for 'B' standards of Nationals later this season.
"It was a school record by Igor as well as a lifetime best and qualifies him for Nationals as he is currently ranked number one in the country for the event which is awesome," head coach Jordan Taylor said. "Overall, I think everyone swam at least their season best today, if not lifetime bests. We were able to qualify both the men's and the women's 200-yard freestyle relay for Nationals tonight."
The Eagles saw seven total athletes plus a quartet of relay teams were in action in Thursday's event finals from Knoxville. The first finals for C-N would be the women's and men's 200-yard freestyle relay. The quartet of Manon Compagner, Chrisman Rand, Kennadi King, and Meredith Ginn gathered 12th place with their time of 1:33.80. The men's side of the event saw Igor Dantas, Nikita Puzevich, Hobson Stelling, and Nicolas Lenuza finish 10th with a time of 1:20.59.
Igor Dantas was joined in the men's 50-yard freestyle event finals by freshman Hobson Stelling (Memphis, Tenn.) and senior Nikita Puzevich (Belarus). Stelling will be in the 'C' finals as he swam a prelim time of 20.35 to garner 25th overall while Puzevich will see to the 'D' event finals after collecting a prelim time of 20.40 and 27th overall.
In Thursday's finals, Stelling would capture 24th overall and a time of 20.26. Puzevich would be in the 'D' finals as he finished 30th overall with his finals time of 20.54.
Action at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center began Thursday with preliminary heat races in the men's and women's 500 free, 200 IM and 50 free.
On the men's side of the 500 free, senior Matthew George (Manchester, England) continued his impressive outing in the event as George swam his way to a top-25 prelim finish and a spot in the event's 'C' finals with a time of 4:30.85. This is now the fifth fastest event time in program history and allows George to hold four of the event's top five times as an Eagle.
George went on to finish 23rd overall in the finals with a time of 4:32.66 against competitors from Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, and South Carolina.
"It speaks volume for our program to be constantly invited back to this invitational. 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.
The men's team continued the strong showing in prelims as Nicolas Lenuza (Spain), Joey Clemmer (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), and Benaiah McDowell (Simpsonville, S.C.) all claimed spots in the event finals of the men's 200-yard IM. Lenuza claimed a spot in the event's 'C' finals after coming in with a prelim time of 1:51.48 and a 24th place finish.
Meanwhile, Clemmer came in with a prelim time of 1:54.06 to garner 32nd overall. McDowell was right behind Clemmer in 33rd overall with his prelim time of 1:54.36. Both Clemmer and McDowell would swim in Thursday's 'D' finals of the event.
Lenuza, the sophomore from Spain, would claim 24th overall in the finals after swimming a time of 1:52.17. Clemmer finished 30th overall with a finals time of 1:53.08 while McDowell rounded out the finalists with a 32nd place finish in a time of 1:53.42.
Junior Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.) finished as the top Eagle in the 500-yard freestyle with her prelim time of 5:03.56 and a placement of 33rd overall. As her time sits as the third-fastest event time in program history, Peden is now in sole possession of two of the top five event times for an Eagle.
With a flurry of personal best and potential qualifications times set, coach Taylor felt that the team came in with a positive attitude and ready to attack each race despite facing a plethora of tough opposition.
"A lot of lifetime bests from our swimmers tonight as we're doing the best we can to hang with the best in the country," Taylor said. "We're getting people to finals, putting people in finals and doing what we need to do to be on track and I'm excited to see what our team does tomorrow morning to continue our efforts."
Through 12 events, Carson-Newman women sit in sixth with 54 points while the men are sixth with 59 points. The invitational rolls on tomorrow with the men's and women's 400 IM, 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back. Prelims are set for 10 a.m., with the finals at 5:00 p.m.
