Eagles look to continue strong start in duel meet against Patriots

VIDEO: Jordan Taylor Interview

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn – Following a victory in their first dual meet of the year, the Carson-Newman swim team welcomes the University of the Cumberlands to Maddox Pool on Friday for a meet that's scheduled to begin at 6 p.m in Jefferson City, Tennessee.

"Things have been great since our victory," coach Jordan Taylor said. "Now we've got back into some more hard work after the fall break. The team loved having a few days off following that meet. They came in with a lot of energy. We're really trying to take a step forward and progress from the races we had a couple weeks ago."

The Eagles' first competition of the year was at home against the Limestone Saints and the Eagles rolled to a 386-134 combined win in which they took 26 of 28 events. Six different swimmers won multiple races and the team also won all four of the day's relays. On the women's side, Elly Culp (West End, N.C.) took the top spot in the 50 free and the 100 fly, Margaret Stansberry(Knoxville, Tenn.) captured the 100 free and 200 free and Olivia Winkler (Marietta, Ga.) triumphed in the 200 back and 200 individual medley. The men's team saw Jon Lancaster finish first in the 200 free and 200 back, Josh Winn (Round Rock, Texas) earn W's in the 1000 free and 200 breast and Pijus MacKevicius (Kaunas, Lithuania) hit the wall first in the 200 fly and 100 fly.

The Patriots, who are ranked at No. 2 in the NAIA by Collegeswimming.com, will come to Jefferson City following a pair of dual meet wins to open their season. They began the fall with a win at Lindsey Wilson College and followed that by downing Union College two weeks later. Igor Dozortsev led Cumberlands in their latter meet, taking three events, the 200 fly, the 100 fly and helping his squad win the 200 medley relay. He was named Men's Swimmer of the Week by the Mid-South Conference. Collegeswimming.com chose Joey Sedacca as the Male Swimmer of the Week for winning the 50 free and 100 free and helping his team win a pair of relays over Union. They also had one of their women's swimmers, Casandra Bock, named Female Swimmer of the Week by Collegeswimming.com after she captured the 50 free and the 100 fly against Union.

The Cumberlands entered the fall following a season in which both their men's and women's teams finished fifth in the NAIA Championships, the best performance in program history. This year, the women's squad was named the preseason favorite in the MSC, while the men were picked to finish second.

This will be the third straight season the Eagles and Patriots have met. In each of the last two seasons, C-N emerged victorious. In 2014, Carson-Newman won every event on its way to a 276-125 combined win at Maddox Pool. The following year, they dominated Cumberlands again, this time on the road, taking the meet 356.5-158.5.

The details of this year's clash will be published on cneagles.com shortly after its conclusion.

-CN-