CANTON, Ohio – Sophomore Nathalia Silva out-paced the rest of the 41-woman field by more than five seconds on the way to successfully defending her Mountain East Conference title in the 1,000-yard Freestyle, and then joined up with three of her teammates to set a school and meet record in the 800-yard Freestyle Relay, to highlight action for the UNC Pembroke swimming team on opening day of the GMAC/MEC Championships.
 
Silva topped her season-best time in the 1,000-yard Freestyle by more than 19 seconds and easily topped the rest of the field in the event, touching with a time of 10:29.49. Silva, Paige Seplak, Mariel Mencia Martinez and Gillian Manning comprised the 800-yard Freestyle Relay squad that obliterated the program record in the event by nearly 45 seconds, while also besting a 2-year-old meet record by more than a second.
 
The Braves opened the day with a third-place finish in the 200-yard Medley Relay as Jaycie Knight, Sarah Morden, Caterina Coughlin and Ketlyn Rodriguez Matos teamed up to register a time of 1:49.66.
 
UNCP, which already boasts nine all-conference awards after opening-day action, sits in second place (first among MEC squads) with 161 points. The 4-day GMAC/MEC Championships will continue on Wednesday with four more events – the 400-yard Medley Relay, as well as the 500-yard Freestyle, the 200-yard Individual Medley and the 50-yard Freestyle. 

 

Team Standings (After Day 1)
Place		Team	Points		Place	Team	Points
1		Hillsdale	271		6	Fairmont State	118
2		UNC Pembroke	161		7	West Virginia Wesleyan	116
3		Findlay	156		8	Davis & Elkins	110
4		Malone	129		9	Frostburg State	90
5		Notre Dame (Ohio)	119		10	Ursuline	68
Mountain East Conference (MEC) Team I Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Team

 

GMAC/MEC CHAMPIONSHIPS (DAY 1 - MARCH 30, 2021)
200 Yard Medley Relay
3	UNC Pembroke - Jaycie Knight, Sarah Morden, Caterina Coughlin, Ketlyn Rodriguez Matos	1:49.66
1000 Yard Freestyle
1	Nathalia Silva	10:29.49
17	Anna Miller	11:13.65
23	Natalia Sarmiento	11:27.47
37	Sierra Wright	12:29.13
39	Sara Ormsby	13:08.26
800 Yard Freestyle Relay
1	UNC Pembroke - Nathalia Silva, Gillian Manning, Mariel Mencia Martinez, Anna Miller	+$ 7:39.95
$ - School Record # - Tied School Record + - Meet Record