February 16, 2024

Ivanova grabs gold in 200 fly

GREENSBORO, N.C.- Carson-Newman swim's Martina Ivanova won gold in the women's 200-yard butterfly this evening, Feb. 16, during the third day of the 2024 SAC Men's & Women's Swimming Championships.

"It was great to see everyone race," head swim coach Ben Young said. "The third day of competition is always tough in a four-day meet format, so to see everyone fight through it and step up was really encouraging. We were still able to walk away from tonight with some really big swims".

Ivanova finished first in the women's 200 fly during the third day of the SAC Swimming Championships. She finished the race in 2:04.69, an NCAA DII "B" cut. Teammate Maria Tirulli grabbed bronze in the event in 2:05.57, and Kyla Blakemore finished fourth in 2:07.70.

"On the women's side of the 200 fly, we really packed the 'A' Final," Young said. "That is always awesome to see. It was the same thing for the 100 back. We really packed a lot of people into that 'A' Final on both sides of competition, so I was proud of that group".

Other notable swims included Blakemore's third-place finish in the women's 100-yard backstroke. Blakemore swam the finals in 55.32 to lock down another national qualifying cut. Sarah Covington placed fourth in the event in 57.12. On the men's side of the event, Arthur Gluzman stood second on the podium for his 48.84-second performance. Daniel Ribeiro rounded out the top-3 in 48.96, and Tyler Schehr finished fourth in 49.90.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, Breanna Belcher finished third with a DII "B" cut performance. Belcher finished the race in 1:03.19. Antonia Sanint also grabbed a qualifying mark with her finals time of 1:03.89. Sanint finished fifth in the event. Teammate Chrisman Rand followed closely behind, finishing sixth in 1:04.26. Asger Hartvig won the 'B' Final during the men's 100 breast in 54.36, grabbed a DII "B" cut with his performance.

"Asger won that 'B' Final with ease tonight," Young said. "Obviously, it was tough for him to come in ninth this morning during prelims, but he got out there tonight and swam hard. He was miles in front of the others, and it was great to see him bounce back and still put that effort in. It's tough in this type of meet to keep everyone motivated and moving in the right direction, but Asger was able to do that tonight. He kept his head up and pulled out a great swim".

During the 500-yard freestyle, Makayla Young finished seventh in 5:06.91. Kate Salsbury rounded out the top-10 with her finals time of 5:09.17, and Fernanda Bautista grabbed 14th in 5:16.86. In the men's 500 free, Jed Little placed 14th in 4:47.01, and Eli Poole finished 15th in 4:47.07.

"On the men's side of the 500 free, it was great to watch Jed and Eli," Young said. "Jed just continues to battle. It's awesome to watch him swim. Eli has been out of the water for over a month, so for him to come in and do what he did was really incredible".

Carson-Newman women's swim finished second in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Salsbury, Kylie Cutcher, Young, and Kennadi King completed the race in 7:44.73. The men's team placed fifth in the relay in 6:56.84. Benaiah McDowell, Carson Jones, Jakov Igrec, and Schehr each swam a leg in the event.

"We had some guys really step up in that relay tonight," Young said. "You might not expect that from looking at the results, but it was a great race for them. It was a nice way to finish out the day".

At the end of the third day at the 2024 SAC Swimming Championships, the Eagles sit second and third in the standings. C-N women's swim is in second place with 1,163 points, and the men are in third with 863 points.

"We will see how tomorrow goes," Young said. "We are looking to finish this thing out with a bang, so we will get up in the morning and stay after it".

The final day of conference championships are set to begin tomorrow, Feb. 17 at 10:00 a.m. Stay up to date on cneagles.com.