Eagles host final dual meet of the fall when Kings visits Maddox Pool

VIDEO: Jordan Taylor Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman swim team is preparing to host their third and final dual meet of the season, which will take place on Friday evening, when they entertain the King (Tenn.) Tornado at 6 p.m. at Maddox Pool.

The Eagles first two dual meets were against Limestone and the University of the Cumberlands and both ended in big wins for Carson-Newman. They knocked off the Saints by a combined score of 386-134 and routed the Patriots 327-83. Between the events, C-N has competed in 50 races and only lost two. They have also won all eight relays they've competed in so far this season.

"I couldn't be happier, to be honest," Coach Jordan Taylor said. "The team has done great. We've been putting the work in in the pool ever since we started back in August. The dual meets have been our fastest dual meets on record as program. We're not only having great performances with all of our winners, but we're backing that up with second and third place finishes in all our races and the depth of our team has really shown through with the number of points we've racked up in our last two dual meets. I couldn't ask any more at this early stage in the season."

Friday will also serve as senior day for C-N swimming, as it is the final event of the year at Maddox Pool. The team's six seniors will be honored in a ceremony prior to the start of the meet. Fourth year student-athletes Amanda Henderson (Bartlett, Tenn.), Nancy Claire Smith (Franklin, Tenn.), Katie Zientarski (Boca Raton, Fla.) Landis Crawford (Greensboro, N.C.) Josh Grover (Villa Rica, Ga.) and Sam Schechter (Knoxville, Tenn.) have been members of the program since it began in 2013 have helped both teams grow in squads that are nationally recognized.

Henderson owns the school record in the 200 backstroke, was named all-conference as a freshman and was also an All-Bluegrass Mountain Conference performer in the 400 medley relay last season. Smith was an honorable mention All-American last year in the 200 free relay and also won the Elite 90 Award, the first in C-N history, at the NCAA Division II Swimming and Diving Championships for having the highest GPA among all competitors at the event. Zientarski has been a leader on the squad for four years, both in the pool and in the classroom while also pursuing a degree in education.

Schechter was an All-American in 2014-15 and was an All-BMC performer twice in the 200 free relay and the 50 free, while also winning a team-high 10 races last season. Grover was selected as an honorable mention All-American by the CSCAA last year and won five races during his junior season. Crawford has three wins in his career as an Eagle and has also served as a team leader while attempting to earn a degree in Biology.

King has participated in three dual meets this season and they enter this competition less than a week after completing their most recent event, the Sewanee Invitational. During their time in Sewanee, their men's team set a record in the 100 freestyle relay and freshman swimmer Juan Somoza broke King records in the 100 individual medley, the 200 individual medley and the 400 individual medley. The women's team broke a school mark in the 100 free relay and one of their student-athletes, Nicola Mead, took down a program record in the 200 butterfly.

In their dual meets, the squad started the season with a combined loss to Mars Hill before knocking off Milligan College and splitting a meet with St. Andrews University in which the women picked up a win and the men were handed their second defeat.

"This has been arguably the hardest week of our season so far," Taylor said. "In the pool, the yardage and intensity has been pretty high. In the weight room, they're into their heaviest lifting cycle of the season. The combination of the two is going to make for some sore and tired bodies [Friday] night, but, for me, it's about how they execute their races and how they go about the whole meet. It's about getting in there and doing the best they can with the fatigue they have and executing some really good performances and I'll be really happy with that."

Once the meet has concluded, visit cneagles.com for the results, as well as they write-up with all the details.

-CN-