VIDEO: Swim Head Coach Jordan Taylor Breaks Down 2019-20 Schedule
JEFFERSON CITY, T.N. – Carson-Newman swim coach Jordan Taylor has released the schedule for the upcoming 2019-20 season as the Eagles look to improve upon their last campaign which saw a program-record eight individual swimmers selected to participate at the NCAA DII National Championships.
The Eagles began the year at the National Open Water Championships in Lawrence, Kan for the fourth straight season and saw freshman Linda Ungerbock (Vienna, Austria) place third out of 76 competitors in her first collegiate event. On the men's side, junior Casey Charles (Mount Juliet, TN) secured a sixth-place finish.
Taylor begins his fifth season as head coach alongside four of the eight individual qualifiers from last year's National Championships in addition to some up-and-coming underclassmen.
The team will host three home meets over the course of the season including the annual Blue vs. Orange Championships on Friday, Sept. 27th at 5:30 p.m. which pits Eagle swimmers against their own teammates.
Carson-Newman will also host Lees-McRae on Nov.16 for a dual-meet and Mars Hill will make the trip to Jefferson City, Tennessee for the Eagles final home event on Jan. 11th, 2020.
C-N will visit Wingate, North Carolina on Oct. 18th and 19th for a dual-meet against the Wingate Bulldogs, a team that finished at no.16 nationally on the men's side and was ranked 9th to end their campaign last year on the women's side.
"Any opportunity we get to race a team like Wingate is awesome," Taylor said. "One of the big focuses last year and coming into this year was to make our schedule as hard as possible so that we're expected to step up and race fast week-in and week-out."
The no.20 Eagles upset the no.10 Bulldogs 170.5 to 144.5 at last year's meeting between the two programs in Jefferson City.
"They'll be a good measuring stick for us," Taylor said. "Last year they came here and we managed to narrowly beat them which was awesome. We're going on to their home turf this time and I imagine they'll be looking for revenge… we'll learn a lot about our program at that meet and then we can kind of make adjustments as we move forward."
Carson-Newman will return to the Tennessee Invitational where they will compete alongside Division I competition from Nov. 21st to Nov. 23rd.
"It's the best opportunity [C-N swimmers] can get," Taylor said. "…they're racing against some potential Olympians for next year, some athletes who have been to World's this year and a lot of athletes that are going to go on to the DI National Championships and be All-American."
Top DI programs such as UNC at Chapel Hill, the University of Georgia and the University of Denver will participate in the event.
"If you can handle your nerves, handle your composure and race against athletes like that we know you're in good standing to go into conference and then to nationals and to execute everything we've been working on," Taylor said.
The Eagles will head to Charlotte, North Carolina for the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships from Feb.13th to Feb. 16th, 2020 hoping to springboard themselves to the NCAA DII National Championships from Mar. 11th to Mar. 14th in Geneva, OH.
"One of our big focuses is obviously the NCAA Championships at the end of the season," Taylor said. "Swimmers should expect to have the full season all the through until March and we're trying to get as many athletes there as possible."
Be sure to follow along with the Eagles all season long across Carson-Newman's social media platforms and on cneagles.com
