CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carson-Newman swim team saw multiple swimmers qualify for All-Conference laurels in the final day of the Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships.
The team finished in third place overall on both sides. The men's team scored 626 points while the women posted 516.5. Queens and Wingate finished first and second, respectively.
The first event of the evening was the 1,650-yard freestyle which saw freshman Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.) take forth. It was a lifetime-best time of 17.13, just one second off a program record. The freshman took home an All-Conference award in the event.
"We're hopeful that she will sneak into NCAAs but we'll have to wait," Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "It was an awesome swim for her."
Fellow freshman Linda Ungerboeck (Vienna, Austria) placed sixth, also good enough for an All-Conference laurel.
"Both as freshman have been great additions to our program," Taylor said, "Our goal in recruiting was to get some good distance girls and these two have come in and done just that. For them to come into the conference finals and get onto the podium as freshman is really exciting."
Freshman Manon Compagner (Balkbrug, Netherlands) finished third in the 100-yard freestyle with a lifetime-best time, the second-fastest in C-N history.
"She was in a race with seven other girls that were all from Queens," Taylor said. "I told her to not lose to a girl from Queens. She didn't quite do that but she held her own extremely well out there by herself and I'm proud of her performance."
In the men's version of the event, junior Chad Andoljsek (Slovenia) took fifth and freshman Raphael de Paiva was sixth, both All-Conference performances.
Sophomore Andrei Ungur (Romania) took first in the 200-yard backstroke, setting a school and conference record in the process but was disqualified from the racing for sinking below the 15-meter depth that stands as the maximum allowed upon entering the pool.
Sophomore Matt George (Manchester, England) finished second and was elevated to first upon the disqualification.
"I protested the call but the referees wouldn't budge," Taylor said. "He didn't believe he did it and neither did I. I told him that it's part of swimming and life, you're going to have ups and downs and sometimes things don't go your way. I told him we've got nationals in a few weeks where he can come away with a national title."
In the men's 200-yard breaststroke, senior Caleb Howell (Easley, S.C.) took first place, his second Conference Champion honor of the four-day event. Sophomore Joey Clemmer (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) finished fifth, also an All-Conference placement.
"Caleb's season has been great," Taylor said. "He kind of put some pressure on himself going into this meet to qualify for nationals and did extremely well and will qualify for nationals. Just the way he handled the pressure was impressive. He has had some ups and downs in his career but this weekend he handled that pressure very well. He was nervous before finals but he was able to go in and execute his races well and not let the situation get to him."
The relay event of the evening was the 400-yard freestyle relay. C-N finished second on both the men's and women's sides, worthy of All-Conference laurels.
The team will wrap up its season at the NCAA DII National Championships from Mar. 11 to Mar. 14 in Geneva, OH.
Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman swim team on C-N's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.
