Eagles power past Patriots, 276-125

Paige McCord
Paige McCord

Paige McCord Interview

Nancy Claire Smith Interview

Sam Schechter Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the second consecutive duel meet, the Carson-Newman swim team swept its opponent, the University of the Cumberlands, by picking up the 276-125 combined win.

The men won 130-70 and the women took their meet 146-55.

"Today was a great opportunity to get out there and just race. We haven't been able to race in a few weeks and it was great to get in there and have some head-to-head competition with someone other than ourselves," coach Paige McCord said. "It really drove us to get be able to get those last few portions of a second off the clock."

On the women's side, freshman Lexy Raybon (Sarasota, Fla.) picked up two individual wins in the mile Freestyle and the 200 Butterfly. Fellow freshman Margaret Stansberry (Knoxville, Tenn.) also won two individual events with wins in the 200 and 500 Freestyle.

Sophomore Taylor Bing (Memphis, Tenn.) and senior Aly Kaywork (Fernandina Beach, Fla.) combined with Stansbery in sweeping the podium in the 200 Free.

Sophomore Nancy Claire Smith (Franklin, Tenn.) picked up two individual wins in the 400 Individual Medley and the 200 Backstroke. She was also a member of the winning 400 Medley Relay with Stansberry, Natalie Burnett (Sevierville, Tenn.) and Samantha Starnes (Knoxville, Tenn.).

"We have been training really hard, actually. We are getting ready for our biggest meet, the Fall Frenzy, in two weeks and so this has been one of our hardest weeks of training," Smith said.

Starnes, Kaywork, Stansberry and Burnett combined for a win in the 200 Freestyle Relay.

Other individual wins for the Eagles include: Starnes's win in the 50 Freestyle, Burnett's victory in 100 Freestyle and Amanda Henderson (Bartlett, Tenn.) win in the 200 Backstroke.

For the Carson-Newman men's team, sophomores Tommy Bourgeois (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Kent Eldreth (Knoxville, Tenn.) powered the team with two individual wins apiece.

Bourgeois picked up victories in the 200 Butterfly and the 500 Freestyle, while Eldreth's wins came in the 400 Individual Medley and the 200 Backstroke.

Senior Stephen Parsons (Auburn, Ala.) picked up a win in the 200 Freestyle; Drew Rutledge (Lexington, S.C.) and Ben McCrary (Woodbury, Tenn.) joined Parsons on the podium to give the Eagles a clean sweep in the event.

Sophomore Sam Schechter (Knoxville, Tenn.) won the 100 Freestyle to give the Eagle males' six individual wins.

Davis Vincent (Loganville, Tenn.), Eldreth, Schechter and Parsons combined for a win the 400 Medley Relay. Connor Graham (Irmo, S.C.) joined Rutledge, Schechter and Parsons for a win in the 200 Freestyle Relay.

"In the relay, it was suppose to be a close race, so I just dove in and swam my hardest and we came out on top so I guess everything went well," Schechter said. "We have a lot of confidence. Last year, we only won one meet and we have already won two, so we are good to go and let's keep the train rolling."

Carson-Newman train will keep rolling in two weeks at the Fall Frenzy in Charlotte, N.C.

-CN-