PEMBROKE – Solid performances across the board in the UNC Pembroke swimming team's dual meet victory at Converse on Saturday has landed the Braves in the CollegeSwimming.com/SwimCloud national ranking at No. 21, the organization announced Wednesday morning.
 
It is the first national ranking for the Braves (1-0) across the five-year history of the program. The swimming program made its debut on the UNCP campus in 2016-17, and entered the season as the reigning Mountain East Conference champions.
 
Five individual marks at Saturday's contest sparked the entry into the SwimCloud computer rankings. Sophomore Mariel Mencia Martinez currently holds the nation's sixth-fastest time in the 50 Yard Freestyle after turning in a school-record and NCAA B Standard qualifying mark of 23.89 seconds against the Valkyries.  Mencia Martinez's time of 52.95 seconds in the 100 Yard Freestyle also ranks 14^th among the best times in NCAA Division II.
 
Fellow sophomores Ketlyn Rodriguez Matos and Nathalia Silva also find themselves listed among the nation's best in their respective disciplines. Rodriguez Matos possesses the nation's ninth-fastest time in the 100 Yard Breaststroke with a school-record mark of 1:07.50 in Saturday's action, as well as the 14^th-fastest time in the 200 Yard Individual Medley. Rodriguez Matos registered a school record time (2:12.41) in that event on Saturday as well.
 
Silva, the reigning MEC Freshman and Swimmer of the Year, turned in a time of 5:13.31 on the way to winning the 500 Yard Freestyle on Saturday. That time currently ranks 12^th among NCAA Division II swimmers.
 
UNCP is in the midst of a 2-month hiatus from competition and will resume their 2020-21 slate on January 7 at the Queens Tri-Meet. The Braves are slated to battle both Catawba and the top-ranked Royals at that event.