February 8, 2019

Howell, Ungur secure league champion honor on Friday in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Carson-Newman swimming had two individuals grab Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships in day three of the four-day meet from the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center. Both programs remain in third-place overall in the team standings.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Carson-Newman swimming had two individuals grab Bluegrass Mountain Conference Championships in day three of the four-day meet from the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center. Both programs remain in third-place overall in the team standings.

Entering the finals Friday evening, the Eagles would have 14 opportunities in 'A' finals to come away with a league championship or an All-BMC swim, a mark C-N has accomplished 14 times in the first two days.

Caleb Howell is a conference champion in the 400-yard individual medley swimming faster than his prelim time which was also good for a first-place finish at 3:52.60. The Easley, S.C. native broke his own school record in the event for the second time today.

The first @CNSwim BMC Conference Champion this week �� @calebhowell16 pic.twitter.com/u60HnYq5aj
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) February 9, 2019

Joey Clemmer earned his first All-BMC honor of the week alongside Howell in the same event with a sixth-place time at 4:03.59 which was almost two seconds faster than his morning swim. Clemmer's time is now fourth in program history.

Andrei Ungur would earn a conference championship himself later in the day in the 100 yard-backstroke marking the first freshman in school history to accomplish the feat. Ungur's time of 48.13 was a full second better than his morning time. He owns the second-best time in school history in the event and sits at No. 12 in the nation.

#️⃣✌️ of the day for @cnswim pic.twitter.com/At36rDddIr
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) February 9, 2019

Seth Hughes grabbed the runner-up honor in an All-BMC swim with a time of 48.33 seconds, as he sits at No. 13 in all of Division II and third in school history.

"What a really good night for us," Coach Jordan Taylor said. "Tt was all exciting, we had people really stepping up over the place. It was probably one of the best overall all-around performances we've ever had and that goes back four or five years in this program. Everything was falling in terms of school records, personal-best times, improvements in national rankings so to see it all come together for us as a whole is fantastic."

C-N's 200-yard freestyle group of Elly Culp, Mary Northcutt, Meredith Ginn, and Laurel Sankowski earned second-place topping Wingate in a relay for the first time this weekend with a time of 1:33.35, a new season-low time to earn All-BMC honors in the event.

The men's group also beat the Bulldogs in the event as the foursome of Ivo Kunzle, Jonny Goss, Seth Hughes, and Chad Andoljsek checked in at 1:21.02 for an All-BMC swim.

Freshman Meredith Ginn grabbed her second individual All-league swim on the week with a fifth-place finish in the 400-yard individual medley beating her prelim time by just shy of two seconds with a time of 4:28.86. CJ Jensen grabbed fourth-place for her first individual All-BMC mark with a time of 4:26.65, nearly four seconds better than her prelim race.

The West End, N.C. native Culp swam faster in the 'A' final in the 100-yard butterfly to grab third-place, her fifth All-Conference honor so far this week. The senior's time of 55.53 seconds breaks her previous best as an Eagle as she remains second all-time in the history of the program.

Kunzle posted his second All-BMC swim of the day after collecting a fifth-place finish in the 100 butterfly touching the wall at 49.66 seconds.

Gabby Aguiar collected 15 points and an All-league swim in the 200-yard freestyle for C-N with fourth-place time at 1:51.49, faster than her prelim race earlier in the day. The mark now places the freshman second in school history.

Matthew George collected his first individual All-BMC swim in his first season as an Eagle after turning in a fifth-place performance in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:38.75, nearly a full second faster than the preliminary swim. He fell just short of breaking his own school record he set at the end of 2018 at 1:38.54.

"The freshman have been awesome," Taylor said. "We've put a lot on them since they got here and have asked them to do a lot and they have stepped up big. As a group, they have been unbelievable all-around for us. They're getting to see the rewards for their hard work pay off. Since they've stepped on this campus they have been a massive addition to our program. That's why I coach is to see people get the most out of their talent and enjoy it and do it with a smile on their face."

Andrei Roman rounded out the top-six to grab All-BMC honors in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 56.40, over a full second faster than the morning prelim.

C-N grabbed a bakers dozen All-BMC swims nearly matching their combined total from the first two days which stood at the aforementioned 14.