Relays anchor strong day one of Nationals
GREENSBORO, N.C. – After a month of intense preparation, it was finally time for Carson-Newman swimming to take to the national stage in Greensboro
Day One final results
GREENSBORO, N.C. – After a month of intense preparation, it was finally time for Carson-Newman swimming to take to the national stage in Greensboro amongst the nation's top swimmers. Wednesday saw the 200-yard IM, 50-yard freestyle, 1000-yard freestyle, 200-yard medley relay, and 200-yard freestyle relay prelims and finals take place.
Through one day of events, it is Carson-Newman sitting in fifth overall for women's with 53 points while the men's side of the pool sees C-N sitting in 12th overall with 34 event points. Queens (N.C.) leads the way on both sides as they look to defend their 2021 title.
The night got off to a BIG start for Carson-Newman as a new women's 200-yard medley relay program record set the bar for the rest of the night. The quartet of Kailee Morgan (Greeneville, S.C.), Meredith Ginn (Ocala, Fla.), Manon Compagner (Balkburg, The Netherlands), and Kyla Blakemore (Durban, South Africa) turned in a time of 1:40.91.
This breaks the old program record of 1:41.62 set in 2018 by the quartet of Stansberry-Melhorn-Culp-Postma. Their finals time also places the quartet as an All-American performance as they finish fifth overall behind Nova Southeastern, Drury, Queens (N.C.), and UIndy.
However, the Eagles were not done there as in the men's 200-yard medley relay, another program record fell as it was the quartet of Nikita Puzevich (Belarus), Asger Hartvig (Hoersholm, Denmark), Nicolas Lenuza (Spain), and Hobson Stelling (Memphis, Tenn.) setting the new time.
Bettering their previous record of 1.27.96 at the 2022 BMC Championships, the quartet would turn in a finals time of 1:27.92 Wednesday night to see a new program record and finish 13th overall from the Greensboro Aquatic Center.
"It was good to see both teams go out there and compete to start off the night. Both were very strong swims and we could have swam faster," head coach Jordan Taylor said. "I think it was a good step in the direction we want to see our relays and individual events go. For us to gain All-American swims throughout the night was good and I think we can continue making an impact the rest of our time here"
Then, in the night's finale, the men's 200-yard freestyle relay saw C-N secure an All-American finish as the Eagles finish 7th overall. With a time of 1:19.48, the quartet of Dantas, Lenuza, Logan Ridge McCay, and Stelling got to take their place on the championship podium and be recognized in front of a packed Greensboro Aquatic Center to end the night.
The women's 200-yard freestyle would also garner a top-10 finish as it was honorable mention All-American honors for the Eagles to end the women's night. Turning in a time of 1:33.64 and coming in fourth for heat two and ninth overall were the quartet of Kennadi King (Marietta, Ga.), Compagner, Summer Osborne (Clearwater, Fla.), and Ginn.
Senior transfer Igor Dantas (Indaiatuba, Brazil) continued to make a splash in his debut season for the Eagles as he swam in the men's 50-yard freestyle prelims on Wednesday morning. The Brazil native would secure a spot in the event's consolation finals after swimming a prelims time of 19.86, which ties him with the second-fastest event time for CNSW alongside Andrei Ungur.
In the event consolation finals, Dantas would swim a finals time of 19.95 which gives him the distinction of honorable mention All-American as he finished 15th overall for the event from Greensboro.
Joining Dantas as event finalists for night one, super senior CJ Jensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) would see to the pool for the women's 200-yard IM to start off Wednesday. Her time of 2:03.83 allows the Denmark native to be in the event's consolation finals as she finished tied for 15th in all prelims.
Her consolation finals time of 2:03.59 allows Jensen to garner honorable mention All-American honors for the women's 200-yard individual medley as she finishes 13th overall.
"Both finishes are honorable mention All-American which is good for Igor and CJ," Taylor said. "We had a strong showing in our relays to start the night, but these two events showcased what we could do to start off the day and for them to be part of our first night, I know it will be better the rest of the time here."
In one of her strongest events, junior Rachel Peden (Boiling Springs, S.C.) was in action for the women's 1000-yard freestyle. As she now holds four of the event's top five times in CNSW history, the junior collected a prelims time of 10:14.83 which is the third fastest by an Eagle. This moves Peden in possession of the program record as well as the third, fourth, and fifth fastest event times.
Her finals time from Wednesday also allows Peden to garner a new title: honorable mention All-American in the event. After all competitors had finished, it was Peden finishing 13th overall for the women's 1000-yard freestyle.
The Eagles also saw freshman sensation Henrique Pacheco swim in the men's 200-yard IM prelims as he would finish in a time of 1:50.16, which is the third fastest event time for any male Eagle.
"Looking forward to tomorrow and I want to continue to see All-American swims from everyone because we know what we are capable of," Taylor said. "Tomorrow is a new day, but it is valuable for us to continue showcasing our talent and the results will come as well."
Carson-Newman are back in action tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. to begin day two of events at the 2022 NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina from the Greensboro Aquatic Center. Live video is shown on ncaa.com
Be sure to keep up with all things Carson-Newman swimming via cneagles.com and all social media accounts.
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