JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the final time this season, Carson-Newman swimming will be competing from the confines of the MSAC in Jefferson City. The Eagles, coming off a wire-to-wire dominating victory over Emory & Henry, welcome in the Mars Hill Lions for a 1 p.m. dual meet Saturday.
The Eagles were in action last weekend as they faced off with the Emory & Henry Wasps for the first time in seven years, or even for the first time ever. Heading into last Saturday, only Carson-Newman women's swimming had seen action against the Wasps but neither side had faced off in dual meet fashion. As for Carson-Newman men's swimming, last Saturday marked the first ever meeting between the Eagles and Wasps in the pool.
Head coach Jordan Taylor was ecstatic to see his program being able to compete for the first time in 2022 last weekend as he said "it was amazing to see the newcomers to the programs join in with the veterans. Yes, we may not have been at full strength, but our program is stronger with the new additions and we will only get faster," Taylor said. "I know that C-N swim alumni and fans are going to see how fast this team can be and how much we need each other when it comes to Conference and Nationals later this season."
The last time Mars Hill and C-N met in dual meet competition was January 16, 2021 when the Lions paid Jefferson City a visit. Carson-Newman won every event (28 of 28) to set the pace and defeat the Lions by a combined team score of 408-92 on that date. Individually, C-N men won 203-42 while the women came away with a 205-50 triumph.
C-N came out of the gate strong and never looked back the whole competition. Among many of the bright spots for the Eagles Saturday was Nikita Puzevich (Belarus). Puzevich came away with the victory in the men's 50-yd freestyle (20.46) while also being the starting leg of the winning men's 400-yd freestyle relay (3:06.90).
"Overall, it was good. Like Kennadi said in her part, we had some sickness going around which made us short on the whole team effort with some athletes not performing and others still working their way back into the pool. Prior to that, we had a strong winter training before Christmas and had a strong week back on campus before competing," Taylor said "The sickness part is a speed bump coming into the spring 2022 semester. We've been trying to get back into the water as of late, but the team stepped up and did good overall with excellent execution. We're really excited to get back into action against Mars Hill on Saturday and continue improving ourselves as Conferences come up soon enough."
As it has been shown since the program's inception, one thing has remained constant: Eagles being top-25 for DII Swimming. Currently, the Eagles sit at #9 for the women's and a hard-fought #14 for the men's heading into Saturday.
Saturday also has a special place in the C-N swimming program's heart as they will hold their annual Senior Day celebrations, honoring 11 athletes and two coaches for their time and dedication to the program since coming to Mossy Creek.
"I remember being there to recruit this group of seniors when they were in high school and so it just goes to show how fast time flies," Taylor said. "I know they will go out there next week and swim their best one last time. I commend America for how they recognize seniors in college and high school and making sure it is known how important these days are for the individuals."
The action will commence between the Eagles and Lions on Saturday at 1 p.m. as the Senior Day will begin about 10 minutes prior to event start. All festivities will be broadcast via the Eagles Sports Network for fans far and near at cneagles.com/live.
Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman swim team all season long on cneagles.com and on all of C-N's social media platforms.
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