JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn.- Carson-Newman swimming took down both the Mars Hill and Emmanuel Lions this evening, Jan. 12 during the last home meet of the season.
Carson-Newman swim's senior night was a success as the Eagles bested the Mars Hill Lions 277-130 and the Emmanuel Lions 259-150 at home.
"Coming in with this senior class, I think I came in during November of their freshman year," head swim coach Ben Young said. "Getting to know them, getting to coach them day-in and day-out, and getting to see each and every one of them grow so much from their freshman year to where they are now brings a ton of joy to my heart. It's going to really hurt seeing a lot of these guys leave. What they have done for this program is incredible".
Prior to the beginning of the meet, C-N swim honored 12 seniors who will graduate this coming May. Among those seniors were women's swimmers Kyla Blakemore, Mandi Chadwell, Kylie Cutcher, Kennadi King, Chrisman Rand, Makayla Young, Grace Pessemier, and Dehlia Pessemier.
C-N women's swim bested the Mars Hill Lions 167-37 and Emmanuel University 147-58. The women kicked off the night with a win in the 400-yard medley relay. Seniors Blakemore, Rand, and King raced with teammate Breanna Belcher to finish in 3:51.79. Rand went on to grab gold in both the women's 50-yard freestyle (23.98) and 100-yard butterfly (56.99). Blakemore found success in the 100-yard backstroke with a finals time of 56.70. Other senior standouts include Young for her win in the 1,000-yard freestyle (10:42.71) and King for her 52.16-second winning 100-yard freestyle time.
"Senior night was super fun. Just getting to celebrate with some of my best friends and with some of the freshman I've gotten close with this year, it was a really great time," women's swimmer Chadwell said.
Chadwell contributed to a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay where her team finished in 3:55.22. She also grabbed sixth in the 50 free in 25.42 and fourth in the 100 breast in 1:09.81.
"This team is amazing," Chadwell said. "I just feel so blessed to be part of it. Everyone on this team comes in every day and works hard".
The women finished the night with a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay. King raced with Lily Parr, Emma Bowling, and Antonia Sanint to finish in 3:32.95. Another Eagle team, including senior Young, placed third in the event in 3:41.51
The seniors for the men's team include Benaiah McDowell, Carson Jones, Jed Little, and Ethan Lawless. McDowell contributed a leg in the Eagles' first-place 400 freestyle relay where the team won in 3:04.19. He raced with teammates Daniel Ribeiro, Daniel de Oliveira, and Arthur Gluzman. De Oliveira won two individual events throughout the night, besting his competition in both the 100 fly (50.79) and 200 free (1:42.80).
"Tonight was fun," men's swimmer Jed Little said. "We saw some fast swims from some people. We've had three tough weeks of training during Christmas break, so it was cool to see some people come out and put up some good swims was fun to see".
Carson-Newman men's swim won 110-93 over Mars Hill and 112-92 over Emmanuel University at the conclusion of the meet.
Emmanuel University was a late addition to the meet after the team had a Saturday match-up cancel.
"The mindset is always to go in and swim fast. We want to win, so that is always the goal," Little said. "Knowing Emmanuel was coming, it changes the environment a little bit because more people are there, but we still had the mindset of coming in and having good swims".
The Eagles are four weeks out from the 2024 South Atlantic Conference Championships in Greensboro, N.C.
"After tonight, I feel really good," Young said. "We had a great meet. We've been back here since the second of January, and just the fact that they are willing to continue to get up and continue to race is awesome. It's incredible to watch the amount of growth we have had this year. I'm very excited to see where we are at right now and where we are headed".
Carson-Newman swim leaves senior night with dominant wins over Mars Hill and Emmanuel University. The Eagles will be back in action Friday, Jan. 26 at Berry College in Rome, Ga. before heading to Georgia Tech on Saturday, Jan. 27. Stay up to date on cneagles.com.
