Trio of All-Americans highlight final day of Nationals
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Four days and many events later, Carson-Newman swim is heading back to Mossy Creek
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Four days and many events later, Carson-Newman swim is heading back to Mossy Creek with a total eight All-American trophies via 12 different All-American performances as well as six new program records and 13 honorable mention All-American honors achieved over the four-day duration.
The Eagles saw action wrap up in Greensboro on Saturday with athletes competing in the women's/men's 100-yard freestyle, women's 200-yard backstroke, women's/men's 200-yard breaststroke, and women's 1650-yard freestyle.
Along with these six individual events in action, the Eagles also competed in the women's and men's 400-yard freestyle to conclude their time from the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
After the four-day event, Carson-Newman women finish 10th overall in all of Division II with 148 total team points, one place ahead of fellow BMC member Wingate who came in 11th with 144 points. This marks the first time in program history that C-N has beaten the Bulldogs on the National stage.
The men of Carson-Newman finish the four-day event finish as 16th overall among all Division II programs with 85 points.
For the second straight Nationals, it was junior Kailee Morgan shining bright in the women's 200-yard breaststroke. After swimming a prelims time of 2:13.86, Morgan secured a spot in the event's championship finals as well as placing herself with the third fastest event time in CNSW history.
In the championship finals Saturday night, it was Morgan finishing in a personal best time of 2:12.33 which gives her an overall placement of the national runner-up, tying the best overall individual finish in CNSW history, and the title of All-American for the second straight evening.
However, the most notable achievement for Kailee Morgan on Saturday came as she would break a four-year program record held by Maggie Melhorn, whose time of 2:13.09 has stood as the event bearer since 2018. However, it is now Morgan holding the new program record and possessing four of the top five event times.
"What a four days of events for us and I'm humbled to be this program's coach. To go out there and swim probably our best night on the final night is something we strive for from the beginning of the season," head coach Jordan Taylor said. "We brought only 17 athletes to this year's Nationals but it felt like we brought the whole team and I know the future is bright for C-N swim."
In the men's 400-yard freestyle relay, Carson-Newman sent Hobson Stelling (Memphis, Tenn.), Nicolas Lenuza (Spain), Igor Dantas (Indaiatuba, Brazil), and Matthew George (Manchester, England) to the pool to attempt to attain the distinction of All-American.
The quartet would look strong from start to finish as they came in with a time of 2:56.85 which is sufficient for All-American honors and a seventh-place finish overall.
The distance mogul herself, Peden, tried to go the distance again Saturday as she competed in the women's 1650-yard freestyle as part of the morning timed finals. She went up against some top-level competition as she swam a time of 17:02.99, which gives her the second fastest event time of the morning session.
As the Boiling Springs native had to wait until the conclusion of the final heat Saturday night to find out her final placement, she was able to secure seventh place after all was said and done as she can call herself an individual All-American for the first time in her Carson-Newman career. Last season, Peden was part of the All-American women's 800-yard freestyle relay team.
Saturday got started for C-N in the women's 100-yard freestyle prelims as a pair of Eagles attempted to claim a spot in the event finals later in the evening. In heat five of the prelims, it was Manon Compagner competing as she would come in with a prelims time of 50.18 which secured her with a spot in the event's consolation finals as she came in 16th overall.
In the consolation finals, the junior would finish in a time of 50.82 to place 14th overall and gain the distinction of honorable mention All-American.
In the men's 200-yard breaststroke, C-N saw sophomore Thanos Diamanditis (Athens, Greece) secure a top-16 finish in the prelims after swimming a time of 1:59.31, the third fastest event time for CNSW history. With his efforts Saturday morning, the Greece native now possesses three of the top five (third, fourth, five) event times.
As he returned to the pool Saturday night, Diamanditis would capture honorable mention All-American honors after swimming a finals time of 1:59.78 and placing himself 14th overall.
Joining the sophomore in the consolation finals for the men's 200-yard breaststroke is freshman sensation Henrique Pacheco who swam a time of 1:59.01 Saturday morning and placed 13th overall.
His prelims time stands as the event's second fastest time for an Eagle as, since joining the Eagles in January, the freshman has collected six top-five event times across the breaststroke, 200 IM, and 400 IM.
In the consolation finals, Pacheco would attempt to better his time as he came in at 1:59.32, gaining honorable mention All-American honors and a finish of 13th overall right in front of his Eagles teammate. His finals time also places Pacheco with the fourth fastest event time to bring his top-five event time total to seven in the three months since becoming an Eagle.
Women's relay was back again Saturday night as the quartet of Manon Compagner, Meredith Ginn, CJ Jensen, and Kyla Blakemore swam in the women's 400-yard freestyle. As the four athletes finished with a time of 3:27.30, they secure 16th place.
"Seeing all these top times and performances is a good way to end Nationals for us," Taylor said. "I'm proud of all this hard work paying off and for us to go out there and finish 10th and 16th speaks volume for our program and institution."
In the final day of her first Nationals appearance, sophomore Kyla Blakemore (Durban, South Africa) made sure to cement another noteworthy performance for C-N, this time in the women's 200-yard backstroke prelims. Although her time of 2:01.18 was not able to gain the sophomore a spot in event finals, Blakemore can claim fame to another distinction: program record holder.
As she came in with her prelims time, Blakemore overtakes teammate CJ Jensen's time of 2:01.71 set at the 2021 Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships. The time also is a personal best for Blakemore at C-N as her previous best came with a time of 2:01.84 at this year's BMC Championships.
Meredith Ginn was the first Eagle to take to the pool Saturday morning as part of heat two of the women's 100-yard freestyle prelims as the senior would win the heat in a time of 51.82 but would see a final placement of 38th overall.
In the men's 100-yard freestyle prelims, it was a trio of Eagles looking to capture a place in either event final Saturday. First, sophomore Nicolas Lenuza (Spain) swam to a time of 45.30, which placed him 45th overall after all heats were finished. Then, senior Igor Dantas looked to claim a spot as he swam a time of 44.11, which was good enough for 22nd overall.
The best finish in Saturday's prelims for C-N came from freshman Hobson Stelling (Memphis, Tenn.) who would swim a prelims time of 44.04 but would fall short of advancing as he came in 19th overall.
"It's an honor to be in this position and be on the Nationals stage, considering I was almost sure I wasn't going to swim in college," Stelling said. "There is a lot to continue improving on, but one thing I know for sure, there are many bright days ahead with three more years of this and I know I can be back on this stage soon."
This concludes the 2021-22 Carson-Newman Swimming season. Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman swimming via cneagles.com and all social media accounts.
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