FORT MILL, S.C. – The Carson-Newman swim team saw their 2021 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championship battle started Thursday morning in Fort Mill, South Carolina. In the morning prelims, multiple athletes qualified for 'A' and "B' finals while a couple school records were broken within the Palmetto state.
A quintet of women swimmers started their day off in the women's 200-yard individual medley, none more memorable than junior Meredith Ginn (Ocala, Fla.). Ginn set a new school record in the event with her time of 2:01.89.
Beyond Ginn, teammate senior CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) gained another top-five finish in the event, with the fifth fastest time in program history at 2:03.26. Both Ginn and Jensen will participate in the 'A' final for the event later this evening. Sophomore Antonia Sanint (Bogota, Colombia) will be in the 'B' finals for the 200 IM while sophomore teammate Kailee Morgan (Greenville, S.C.) is in the 'C' finals for the event later this evening.
In the men's 1000-yd freestyle final, senior Casey Charles (Mount Juliet, Tenn.) was able to set the third-fastest time in Eagles history while garnering the overall win with his time of 9:32.61. Charles had three teammates: Adam Jones (Huntsville, Ala.), Jed Little (Anderson, S.C.), and Kodee Eads (Johnson City, Tenn.) finish in the top-eight of the event as well.
On the women's side, freshman Makayla Young (Lexington, Ky.) and junior Kailey Grant (Aiken, S.C.) finished with top-5 placements in the women's 1000-yd event.
C-N also flexed the strength of its lineup in the men's 200-yard individual medley which saw a total of seven Eagles attempt to break into the top-16 overall. Of the seven competitors, junior Matthew George (Manchester, England) and Brandon Meier (Greenville, S.C.) placed themselves into the 'B' event finals this evening with four other teammates placing in the 'C' event.
The other event of the day came in the 50-yard freestyle for both men and women. On the women's side, freshman Chrisman Rand (Mount Pleasant, SC) made it into the 'A' final with her time of 23.75, good enough for a fifth-place finish. Senior Laurel Sankowski (Indian Trial, N.C.) and Sanint made themselves a steady force in the 'B' finals for this evening. Finally, Morgan and senior Claudia Carroll (Atlanta, Ga.) placed in the top-25 for the event, good enough for a place in the event 'C' finals when the Championships resume tonight.
On the men's side of the action, sophomore Raphael Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) showcased his true talents when he wrapped up a second-place finish in a time of 19.96, tying the second fastest event time in school history and placing himself in the 'A' final alongside teammates sophomore Nikita Puzevich (Belarus) and senior Chad Andoljsek (Slovenia). Meier is the lone Eagle competing in tonight's 50-yd freestyle 'B' final while freshman Carson Jones (Southaven, Miss.) is in the 'C' final when action resumes.
Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman swim team on C-N's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.
-CN-
