JEFFERSON CITY, TN - The Carson-Newman swim team has been tabbed as seventh on the women's side and tenth on the men's in NCAA DII national rankings.
These rankings were bestowed upon the Eagles after dominating the King Invitational in Bristol, TN on Oct. 4th and 5th, 2019 to the tune of 32 first-place finishes out of 36 events.
The Eagles did not lose a single relay contest in the event against eight other opponents including Bluegrass Mountain Conference rivals Catawba, Mars Hill, King University and Lees McRae.
"The ranking shows just how well we have started the season and the depth that we have within the team," Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "We just have to continue to improve on our times and it takes everyone to do that for us to rise in the rankings, not just our strongest swimmers."
The ranking comes in part due to that roster depth Taylor has been able to accumulate. On one end of the spectrum, seniors Mary Northcutt (Huntsville, Ala.) and Caleb Howell (Easley, S.C.) are fresh off winning female and male BMC swimmer of the week awards.
On the other end of the scale, multiple freshmen have shined early on like Linda Ungerboeck (Vienna, Austria) who finished third at the CSCAA Open Water National Championships on Sept. 14th, beating many Division I swimmers in the process.
With that said, there's even more help on the way.
"We have had a few people not swim yet and once we add them into our meet line up that will also help," Taylor said.
Carson-Newman received national rankings on both sides last year after the men secured an upset win over nationally-ranked Wingate. This time around, the team has achieved a higher position than at any point last season.
C-N looks for a repeat performance and another boost up the rankings in their upcoming dual-meet on the road against Wingate on Oct. 18th and 19th.
"Again, it's another boost to team moral and a motivator for future meets to see if we can climb even higher," Taylor said.
The Eagles aren't the only BMC team that has reached such heights as rival Queens was tabbed as second on the women's side and fifth on the men's side in the national rankings.
Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman swim team all across C-N's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.
