JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman swim team will have a program-record nine athletes attend the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving National Championships in Geneva, Ohio from Mar. 11 to Mar. 14.
"It highlights the depth of our program yet again," Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said. "It's really hard to qualify for nationals. To have nine of our athletes rank with the best in the country and get invited is awesome. Overall, it just continues to show that our program gets better and better every year and that we're building on the success we have had in the past. The more we do that, the more our athletes believe that this is part of our culture. The culture change that we've had here over the past few years has been the main stimulus for that. Success breeds success."
The team is currently ranked 13th on the women's side and while the men are 14th.
The women will see five athletes attend while four men made it for the Eagles.
On the women's end, freshman Manon Compagner (Balkbrug, Netherlands) will make her National Championship debut in the 50 and 100-yard freestyles as well as the 100-yard butterfly. Fellow freshman Kailee Morgan (Greenville, S.C.) will also be making her first appearance at the National Championships; she will try her hand at the 100-yard breaststroke.
Sophomore Meredith Ginn (Ocala, Fla.) will swim in the 200-yard individual medley. Junior CJ Jensen looks to participate in the 400-yard IM and senior Mary Northcutt (Hunstville, Ala.) aims to race in the 50-yard freestyle alongside Compagner.
It will be the first individual appearance for Northcutt who has received All-American honors for three consecutive years as a member of relay teams for C-N at National Championships.
"Fun fact, this is her first time at a national-level meet at any level as an individual," Taylor said. "High school, club, college, it's a first time individually. She has been to a bunch of national level meets but always as a part of relays. She has been one of our best relay athletes for years but now as a senior she has the opportunity to go as an individual as well."
For the men, sophomore Matt George (Manchester, England) will swim in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle as well as the 200-yard backstroke.
Senior Caleb Howell (Easley, S.C.) looks to compete in the 200 and 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke.
"He has been working hard last week and this week," Taylor said. "Now we'll rest him up going toward Nationals. The conversation for him is now toward the mental side of things. It's just handling that pressure. My advice to him is always just to breath, relax and focus on doing him and swimming his race. He is one of the best in the country when he does that."
Sophomore Andrei Ungur (Romania) looks to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Paul, when he swims the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, 100 and 200-yard backstroke. Paul Ungur secured the best finish for a male swimmer in C-N history at the national championships with a third-place finish during his tenure at Mossy Creek.
Freshman Roberts Zemturis will swim at the National Championships for the first time when he joins Unger in the 50-yard freestyle.
Zemturis, Morgan and Compagner make up a program-record three freshman participating at Nationals as individuals.
"For them, it's been a building year," Taylor said, "It's just been a growing process for them, they continue to get faster each meet we've gone to, so I just look forward to them improving on their best times. If they do that it will put them in a great position to make finals and secure All-American awards and things like that. I just want them to soak in that atmosphere and all of the lessons that are going to come with it."
The women also qualified for three relays, the 200 and 400-yard individual medleys as well as the 200-yard freestyle
The men qualified for all five relay events for the first time ever. C-N will participate in the 200, 400 and 800-yard freestyles as well as the 200 and 400-yard individual medleys.
Be sure to keep up with C-N swim on cneagles.com and on C-N's social media platforms as they wrap up their season at the National Championships.
