Eagles kick off new season with successful Triple Splash
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman swim teams set two new school records during Thursday night’s Triple Splash swam in Maddox Pool.
Triple Splash Sights and Sounds
"This was a fantastic opportunity to see the athletes get up and race. We really wanted to see how they would do under a pressure situation and they met several of our expectations and surpassed a few," coach Paige McCord said.
Freshman Olivia Winkler (Marietta, Ga.) picked up three individual wins in the 50 Fly with a time of 29.95, the 100 Fly in 58.86, the 200 Individual Medley in a scorching time of 2:10.83.
"It felt really good," Winkler said of her first meet. "I hadn't really been in the pool a couple of weeks before we started, but once we got into the training, I started working hard, training really hard and I used this meet to figure out where I'm at swimwise."
Sophomore Margaret Stansberry (Knoxville, Tenn.) won three events, including the 100 I.M., the 50 Back and the 100 Back.
Sophomore Lexy Raybon (Sarasota, Fla.) picked up wins in 200 Free in a time of 1:58.51 and the 500 Free in 5:21.34. Junior Nancy Claire Smith (Franklin, Tenn.) finished just a tenth off Raybon's time with a swim of 5:21.45 in the closest event of the evening. Fellow sophomore Maggie Melhorn (Knoxville, Tenn.) won the 100 Breast and just three seconds off her school record with a win in 1:07.46 and the 50 Breast in 30.70.
Freshman Lisa Postma (Leiden, Holland) in the 50 and 100 Free with the win in the 50 coming in 24.73.
Melhorn, freshman Alexandra Nuyianes (Clearwater, Fla.) freshman Gillian Cline (Estill Springs, Tenn.) and Postma won the 200 Free Relay in 1:40.57. The freshmen relay team consisting of Emily Loftis (Hendersonville, Tenn.), Bethany McNabb (Newport, Tenn.), Kerry Holding (Bacup, Lanchshire, United Kingdom) and Elly Culp (West End, N.C.) won the 200 Medley Relay in 1:56.66. Sophomore Courtlyn Fields (Anderson, S.C.), Melhorn, Winlker and Raybon combined to win the 400 Medley Relay in 4:13.44.
Junior Sam Schechter (Knoxville, Tenn.) in the 50 and 100 Free in a time of 21.08 seconds in the 50. Freshman Josh Terrell (Lawrence, Kan.) grabbed wins in the 100 Individual Medley with a time of 54.66, the 100 Fly in 1:00.36, Terrell set the Carson-Newman record in the 100 I.M.
Freshman Jon Lancaster (Ringgold, Ga.) grabbed wins in the 200 Free and 500 Free in 4:53.77 and was the only Eagle to swim the 500 in less than five minutes. Freshman Seth Hughes (Kingston, Tenn.) in the 50 Back and 100 Back and won the 100 in 53.12.
Winners in the men's heats included: Pijus Mackevicius (Kaunas, Lithuania) in the 50 Fly, sophomore Ryan Burcham (Lenoir City, Tenn.) in the 100 Fly with a time of 51.68, junior Joshua Grover (Villa Rice, Ga.) in the 200 I.M. and freshman Ryland Darling (Arlington, Tenn.) in the 50 Breast in 28.10 seconds.
"We've been putting in a lot of hard work, both in the weight room and in the pool, and it's definitely showing in not only me, but my teammates as well. It's key that we stay with what we're doing, because obviously the program is working and I cant wait to see what we do against the Cumberlands," Grover said.
Mackevicius, sophomore Ben McCrary (Woodbury, Tenn.), sophomore Patrick McCarty (Bluff City, Tenn.) and Schechter won the 200 Free Relay in 1:27.66. Sophomore Davis Vincent (Loganville, Ga.), freshman Garrett Stelling (Eads, Tenn.), Grover and freshman Josh Winn (Round Rock, Texas) won the 400 Medley Relay in 3:45.66.
Assistant coaches James Graves, Jordan Taylor, Ben Young and former C-N All-American Stephen Parsons competed and won the 200 Medley Relay by over two seconds against current Eagles in a time of 1:36.06.
"Tonight, we were just racing each other, but I like the fact that no matter what, they are learning to race and really setting the standard as we move forward," McCord said. "I think there were some really tight races on the Butterfly with the men and women and I think there were a few races decided by a hundredth of a second, the narrowest of margins and it really shows us we are really deep and there is going to be some competition throughout the year for some spots."
The Eagles open the season on the road at the University of the Cumberlands on Oct. 10th at 1 p.m.
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