CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Carson-Newman swimming is one day closer to wrapping up their time in the Queen City as the 2022 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships saw its third day of events Saturday. Saturday was full of another outstanding performance from C-N as the Eagles took part in another ten events Saturday evening.
As the Eagles look ahead to the last day of the 2022 BMC Championships on Sunday, they are still sitting secure in third place behind Queens (N.C.) (men: 1466 points; women: 1448) and Wingate (men: 1056; women: 1282) for both men and women.
Carson-Newman women's have amassed 902.5 points while the men's team sees 776 points to their three-day total.
"Another great night of swimming with Kailee Morgan getting the win in the women's 100-yard breaststroke and setting a new program record in the process. This was truly amazing to see as her hard work is finally paying off as she continues her time at Carson-Newman," head coach Jordan Taylor said.
In her prime event, the women's breaststroke, junior Kailee Morgan (Greeneville, S.C.) took the top prelims finish in the 100-yard version Saturday morning. The junior swam a time of 1:01.53 which places her in the event's 'A' finals as well as gives her the fourth fastest event time for CNSW.
This all led to two of the biggest moments in the 2022 BMC Championships thus far for C-N as a pair of Eagles would set two new program records in the finals of the 100-yard breaststroke Saturday. First, Morgan broke a four-year-old program record and placed herself as the fastest Eagle in the women's 100-yard breaststroke. With a finals time of 1:00.89, Morgan not only secured the overall event victory for herself but now stands ahead of former Eagle Maggie Melhorn's 2018 time of 1:01.14. Her time also is a new BMC event record.
"Overall, very solid team performance in relays and individual events for another night of action. We still have some things to brush up on as we continue competing in Charlotte heading into the final day," Taylor said. "Very positive overall as we heard and saw Carson-Newman a lot over the event as well as had all the athletes supporting each other constantly."
Then, in the men's 100-yard breaststroke finals, Asger Hartvig would garner a top-10 overall finish while breaking a five-year-old school record in the process. As the freshman came in with a time of 54.48, he not only secured ninth place overall but would topple Andrei Roman's previous record of 54.74 set in 2017.
Morgan was joined in the 100-yard breaststroke 'A' finals by teammate Antonia Sanint (Bogota, Colombia) who finished eighth in Saturday's prelims with a time of 1:05.44. Sanint would respond with a final time of 1:05.61 and an eighth-place finish Saturday night.
Trying to make his claim for C-N Male Freshman of the Year, Henrique Pacheco saw another event where he would swim in the 'A' finals. Despite not setting a top-five program time, the freshman swam a prelims time of 55.59 in the men's 100-yard breaststroke which was seventh fastest amongst competition.
The freshman came back out Saturday night and swam a time of 56.16 which placed him seventh overall in the event.
"Henrique has been very enjoyable to watch and someone we're glad to have on our team for this year's Conference," Taylor said.
Keeping the ball rolling for C-N men's swimming was sophomore Nicolas Lenuza (Spain) in the men's 200-yard butterfly. Lenuza was only seconds away from a spot in the event's 'A' finals but his prelims time of 1:51.79 secured him a spot in the 'B' finals. The time turned in by Lenuza also secured him another top-five program time as it sat as the fifth-fastest event time for CNSW.
Then, in Saturday's final, Lenuza came for teammate Matthew George's 2018 program record as he finished in a time of 1:49.77 which lands the Spain native the second fastest event time in program history behind George's record of 1:48.55.
In the women's 500-yard freestyle, junior Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.) would garner a top-eight prelim finish as she was swim in the event's 'A' final amongst competition from Queens (N.C.) and Wingate. Her prelims time of 5:03.99 was just meres milliseconds away from another top-five program time being added to her C-N career.
When it came time for the event finals Saturday night, Peden would best her prelims time and cement herself in the event top-five for CNSW. With a finals time of 5:02.21 (fourth fastest in program history), the junior not only secured a top-eight finish in the women's 500-yard freestyle but now only holds four of the event's top five times for an Eagle.
Not to be outdone, sophomore Kyla Blakemore (Durban, South Africa) finished top three in the women's 100-yard backstroke Saturday morning as she will take to the pools of Charlotte again tonight in the event's 'A' final.
Her prelims time of 56.23 also places the South Africa native with the fourth fastest event time by an Eagle as she joins the likes of Natalie Burnett, Ruth Hullette, Manon Compagner, and Margaret Stansberry in the top-five times list. In Saturday's finals, the South Africa native came mere seconds away from setting the new top time for an Eagle, but still secures the second-fastest event time with a finish of 55.68 and third place overall Saturday.
For the first time at the 2022 BMC Championships, freshman Nicholas Rennhack will take part in an event's 'A' finals. Saturday morning saw the C-N newbie swim a prelims time of 51.04 in the men's 100-yard backstroke as he will face athletes from Queens (N.C.), Wingate, and Lenoir-Rhyne in the finals.
Rennhack would almost match his prelims time as he finished eighth in the event's 'A' final with a final time of 51.07. Joining the freshman in the event's top 10 was Nikita Puzevich (Belarus) who came in tenth with a finals time of 50.93.
Then, in the women's 200-yard butterfly, it was both sides of the C-N spectrum showing out as a pair of Eagles qualified for the event's 'A' finals. First, senior CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) would be the top Eagle finisher in Saturday's prelims as she came in third with a time of 2:03.04. She was followed closely behind by C-N newcomer, Maria Tirulli, who came in sixth with a prelims time of 2:06.30.
Jensen would see a second-place finish to her ledger Saturday night as she came in at 2:02.89, a Division II provisional time. Tirulli would finish tied for fifth alongside Grace Williams of Wingate as both competitors finished in 2:05.64.
"Everyone is coming together and having fun. We expect to have a lot of fast races tomorrow and it has just been a fun and good experience overall for our team and program," Taylor said.
The whole Carson-Newman team will be back in action tomorrow, Feb. 13, starting at 10 a.m. with prelims and event finals starting at 5:00 p.m. as the 2022 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships come to a close.
Sunday's event finals will be livestreamed by Queens University starting at 5:00 p.m. as the streaming link can be found at cneagles.com.
Be sure to keep up with the Carson-Newman swim team on C-N's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.
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