Dantas shines as Eagles fall to Bulldogs
WINGATE, N.C. – It was not Carson-Newman swimming’s night as they were handed a two-session sweep
WINGATE, N.C. – It was not Carson-Newman swimming's night as they were handed a two-session sweep and a pair of heartbreaking losses by number four (men's) and two (women's) ranked Wingate Bulldogs Saturday night from the Wingate Natarioum.
Overall, the Bulldogs took home a 488-142 victory, sweeping both the men's and women's sides of competition. Carson-Newman would lose the women's competition 248-67 while the men lost 240-75. This is the second straight dual meet which Wingate has taken against C-N as they were also victorious in the matchup last season from the MSAC in Jefferson City.
"Been a long day after we got up early and had a full day of racing," head coach Jordan Taylor said. "It was a tough day of racing as the results show. It was kind of one-sided but it definetely wasn't last year. We had high hopes of coming in and beating them."
Wingate came out guns ablaze as they won 30 of the 34 total events over the two sessions from the Wingate Natarioum, including all four relays that took place. Carson-Newman came away with four individual event victories, highlighted by a pair of victories from senior Igor Dantas (Indaiatuba, Brazil).
The victory for the women's 100-yard breaststroke came by the efforts of junior Kailee Morgan (Greenville, S.C.) who won the event in a time of 1:05.38 ahead of second-place finisher Anne-Sofie Nissen from Wingate. This is the event which Morgan has continued to improve upon as she found her spot in last year's Nationals for the event.
Senior Igor Dantas was the main highlight for C-N as he won two individual events. First, he claimed the victory in the men's 100-yard freestyle Saturday. With his time of 45.36, it was the transfer from Emmanuel College getting into the groove of things as an Eagle. He would finish ahead of second-place Marcel Snitko from Wingate who finished in 45.66.
The second event victory for Dantas came in the men's 50-yard freestyle as he swam a winning timeof 20.84, mere seconds ahead of Bozo Puhalovic who finished second with a time of 20.98.
"The second session saw a lot of more impressive racing and we came out ready to swim our best times," Taylor said. "I think Wingate were ready to avenge their wounds from last year after losing more races last season. They came prepared and wanted to show us thier true potential as they raced hard and raced well."
The Eagles also won the men's 100-yard, thanks to sophomore Nicolas Lenuza (Spain). To continue his time as an Eagle, Lenuza swam a time of 50.26 to take the nine points and help C-N secure another event win.
Other highlights of Carson-Newman performance saw senior Meredith Ginn (Ocala, Fla.) finish second in the women's 200-yard IM with a time of 2:10.47. This was just merely behind first-place Grace Williams of the Bulldogs. Sophomore Thanos Diamanditis (Greece) secured a top-five finish in the men's 100-yard breaststroke with his time of 59.71. The top four finishers for the event would be from Wingate, as the next highest Eagle for the men's 100-yard breaststroke finished seventh.
Kyla Blakemore (Durban, South Africa) also gathered a second-place finish for the Eagles in the women's 200-yard backstroke. As the highest Eagle finisher and only Eagle in the event's top five, Blakemore built upon her Eagle resume with a finishing time of 2:07.41. Senior CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) was in action as part of the women's 200-yard butterfly. She would finish fourth with a time of 2:12.35. Right behind Jensen was teammate Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.) who finished fifth in a time of 2:12.58.
Sophomore Nicolas Lenuza also saw a fourth-place finish in the men's 200-yard butterfly as he came in at 1:57.02.
"We always race Wingate because they are always a top program in Division II and even after a loss like this, we see some positives," Taylor said. "We will paint a bigger picture and our bigger goal of getting to the Tennessee Invitational at the end of November."
The highest finishing relay of the two sessions came in the men's 200-yard freestyle relay. The quartet of Bretas, sophomore Carson Jones (Southaven, Miss.), senior Nikita Puzevich (Belarus), and Lenuza finished second in a time of 1:23.96.
The Carson-Newman swim team next competes against Milligan on October 29. Be sure to keep up with the team across C-N's social media platforms and on cneagles.com.
"We have a couple more days from now to put the weekend in the rear view mirror," Taylor said. "Overall, this was eye opening for both athletes and coaches. I learned a lot from today and we have had a lot to overcome with the situation in Jefferson City."
