GREENSBORO, N.C. – A pair of new program records and All-American performances highlight day three of the 2022 NCAA DII Swimming & Diving Championships for Carson-Newman. Friday saw the prelims and finals of the 500-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, and the 800-yard freestyle relay.
Heading into the final day of events on Saturday, Carson-Newman sits in ninth place for women's with 114 points while the men's side of the pool sees C-N sitting in 17th overall with 54 event points. Queens (N.C.) leads the way on both sides as they look to defend their 2021 title.
For the men's 800-yard freestyle relay, C-N sent the quartet of Igor Dantas, Matthew George (Manchester, England), Henrique Pacheco, and Hobson Stelling (Memphis, Tenn.) to the pool. The four athletes were able to finish third in heat two with a finals time of 6:33.79, which breaks the previous program record of 6:35.40 set in 2020 as C-N finishes 11th overall and garners the distinction of honorable mention All-American.
"Another great session with a bunch of great swims, starting with Kailee getting fourth as she gets All-American once more in the women's breaststroke. From there, it was CJ swimming to a sixth-place finish and a new program record," head coach Jordan Taylor said. "Finally, the men's 800-yard freestyle was outstanding and set a new program record to end the night which sets the stage for a fun last day of events tomorrow."
Another program record would fall in the women's 200-yard butterfly as it was C-N senior CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) swimming in Friday morning prelims. Looking to repeat her record-breaking performance from the 2021 Nationals, Jensen finished in a time of 2:00.83, capturing the second-fastest event time behind her program record set at the 2021 Nationals as she will be one of the final eight swimmers competing for a National Championship.
In the event finals, Jensen garnered All-American honors and set a NEW PROGRAM RECORD as she swam a time of 1:59.93 to finish sixth overall and garner her first All-American honors of the 2022 Nationals. The previous program record was set by Jensen during last year's Nationals as she swam a time of 2:00.56 at the 2021 Nationals.
"CJ just went out and competed with a very calm composure and was able to drop another school record and place herself sixth in the country," Taylor said.
In the women's 100-yard breaststroke, it was a battle for the ages as junior Kailee Morgan (Greeneville, South Carolina) took to the pool for prelims. The junior came into Friday as the second fastest DII women's swimmer in the event with her program record of 1:00.89 set at the 2022 BMC Championships. This time only trails Nova Southeastern's Savanna Best's time of 1:00.75.
In Friday morning prelims, Morgan was in action for heat four as she looked to gain a spot in the event championship finals later in the day. As she swam a prelims time of 1:01.86, Morgan finished with the fifth fastest time and would be in action for the event championship finals as one of the top eight finishes.
In the event finals, all eight finalists came into Friday night separated by less than one second. So, it was Morgan finishing in a time of 1:01.14 to capture her first All-American honor of the 2022 Nationals and a finish of fourth place overall. The time turned in by the Greeneville native ties Maggie Melhorn for the second-fastest event time for CNSW.
The women's 800-yard freestyle relay saw the quartet of Manon Compagner (Balkburg, Netherlands), CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark), Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.), and Meredith Ginn (Ocala, Fla.) take to the pool for heat two of three for the event.
As the quartet swam in lane one for their heat, they were able to finish in a time of 7:36.22 which places them 17th overall.
"These athletes, and the rest of our program, have swam and worked hard all year," Taylor said. "I know we are capable of proving ourselves on a stage like this amongst the nation's best." and now it's just handling the nerves and the pressure. I really encourage them to do the same stuff they've always done.
In the first event of the morning, junior Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.) competed in the women's 500-yard freestyle. As she took to the pool of the Greensboro Aquatic Center in heat three, the junior pushed herself to the edge as she swam a prelims time of 4:58.44, placing 17th overall amongst all event competitors Friday morning.
Her prelims time not only Peden to now hold the second-fastest event time for CNSW, but also sees the Boiling Springs native better her nationals time from last season of 5:02.86. Peden sits with four of the top five event times, only trailing the record holder Lexy Raybon, who set the record of 4:56.40 in 2016.
In the men's 200-yard butterfly, sophomore Nicolas Lenzua (Spain) swam a prelims time of 1:49.19 to place himself with the second-fastest event time as he barely misses out on the opportunity to swim in an event final, placing 22nd overall.
In the women's 100-yard backstroke, it was sophomore Kyla Blakemore (Durban, South Africa) swimming in Friday morning prelims. The South Africa native competed in heat two of the prelims as she swam to a finish of 56.48, which places her 27th overall.
It was C-N seeing sophomore Thanos Diamanditis (Athens, Greece) in the men's 100-yard breaststroke prelims as he swam in the event's first prelim heat Friday. Swimming a prelims time of 54.93, the sophomore secures the fifth-fastest event time for C-N but would not see action in either final Friday night.
Carson-Newman returns to the Greensboro Aquatic for the fourth and final day of events tomorrow as the 2022 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships come to a close. Live video of Saturday's prelims and finals will be shown on ncaa.com
"We belong here, all of our athletes earned their right to be on this National stage. They've just got to continue to showcase what we know they can do and make the most of this opportunity," Taylor said.
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman swimming via cneagles.com and all social media accounts.
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