Trio of school records help Eagles claim third at Conference
Carson-Newman swimming sees more school records on the final night of competition from the Palmetto State.
FORT MILL, S.C. – Carson-Newman swimming sees more school records on the final night of competition from the Palmetto State. Sophomore Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.) and Raphael Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) made sure their young Eagles career is known for many years. The men's 400-yard freestyle of Nikita Puzevich (Belarus), Chad Andoljsek (Slovenia), Nicolas Lenuza (Spain), and Raphael Lima (Sao Paulo, Brazil) break the school record in the event with a time of 1:55.48.
The team finished in third place overall on both sides. The men's team scored 1,366.5 points while the women posted an astounding 1,443 points. Queens and Wingate finished first and second, respectively.
In the women's 1650-yard freestyle, Peden turned in the new school record with a time of 16:53.40 while Lima submitted another record during his 2021 BMC campaign with his 43.62 time in the men's 100-yard freestyle. Peden now holds three of the top five times in the 1,650-yd freestyle while Lima is now the bearer of three of the top five times as well for the 100-yd freestyle.
"Absolutely amazing," head Carson-Newman coach Jordan Taylor said.
Teammate Linda Ungerboeck (Vienna, Austria) came away with the sixth place in a time of 17:31.88 to join Peden with All-Conference honors. Freshman Makayla Young (Lexington, Ky.) wrapped up her BMC debut with the seventh-place finish in her time of 17:37.79, besting her own prelim time for this morning.
The Eagles also gained a sixth place in the men's 100-yard freestyle by Puzevich with a time of 44.84.
Senior CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) may have found her true calling as she now is the second-fastest Eagle in the women's 200-yard backstroke. Jensen started swimming this event just a mere month ago during a regular season dual meet. However, Sunday night, she was only 0.01 away from tying the school record set in 2014 set by Amanda Henderson. She now holds three of the top five Eagles times in the event and looks to assert her dominance at Nationals.
Sophomore Summer Osborne (Clearwater, Fla.) made sure to help the Eagles gain valuable points as she turned in a top-10 time of 2:05.46.
Another highlight on the men's side came from freshman Jed Litte (Anderson, S.C.). Little submitted the second fastest men's 1650 free time after turning in a 15:59.40 finish, while claiming another top-10 finish in his BMC debut. Little and teammate Casey Charles (Mount Juliet, Tenn.) both claimed a top-10 finish with Charles splashing a 16:01.73 finish which is now the third-fastest in program history and gives Charles his second place in the event's top five.
Freshman Denilson Cyprianos ( ) not only made sure his team gained as many points as possible, but helped his Eagles career with a 1:45.44 finish and now the third-fastest time in the event. Cyprianos started swimming for the Eagles in January, so his Eagles career is only going up from here. Junior Matthew George (Manchester, England) and freshman Chase Rayment (South Africa) were part of the top-8 in the event and gained valuable times to assist their own careers.
Sophomore Manon Compagner (Balkbrug, Netherlands) continued and wrapped her sustaining 2021 BMC campaign with a ninth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle. She was joined in the event's top-15 with freshman Kennadi King (Marietta, Ga.) and Anna Tudor (Murfreesboro, Tenn.).
To continue the hot Eagles streak, sophomore Kailee Morgan (Greenville, S.C.) now holds another top-five time in the women's 200-yard breaststroke after turning in the second fastest time of 2:17.98.
The relay event of the evening was the 400-yard freestyle relay. C-N finished third on the women's side of the event while the men broke the school record set last year with a new time of 2:55.48, both finishes worthy of All-Conference laurels.
The team will look ahead to wrap up its season at the NCAA DII National Championships in March, barring any changes to scheduling or participation.
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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