KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Sofia Pereira, Noelie Lacour and  Benedetta Pepe Pugliese each raked in individual event title, and played a key part in pacing the UNC Pembroke swimming team to the its third-straight Conference Carolinas Championship title on Saturday afternoon inside the Kingsport Aquatic Center. 
 
The Braves totaled 791.5 points across the 4-day event to outlast Montevallo who finished with 621.0 points. Emmanuel was third with 619.5 points.

Lacour won the 100-yard Freestyle event and was named Conference Carolinas Freshman of the Year, while Oscar Roverato picked up the league's coach of the year honors for the fourth consecutive year.
 
Pereira posted an NCAA B Standard time in the 1650-yard Freestyle winning the event with a time of 17:18.14. Pepe Pugliese broke the Conference Carolinas Meet Record and UNCP school record in the 200-yard Breaststroke with an NCAA B Standard time of 2:16.38. The 400-yard Freestyle relay team of Kennice Greene, Fabiana Pesce, Noelie Lacour, Britta Schwengle broke the school record in the event with a time of 3:28.44 to win the event to close out the meet. 

 

AT CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS (FEBRUARY 21, 2026)
200 Yard Backstroke (Prelims)
5	Paola Curet-Torres	2:12.68
100 Yard Freestyle (Prelims)
1	Noelie Lacour	52.81
2	Kennice Greene	52.97
4	Fabiana Pesce	53.17
6	Naekeisha Louis	53.50
15	Ting-Yu Pan	55.33
200 Yard Breaststroke (Prelims)
1	^ Benedetta Pepe Pugliese	2:18.98
5	Kaeleigh Cupples	2:29.70
10	Ella Humbert	2:37.45
200 Yard Butterfly (Prelims)
2	Fatima Portillo	2:08.06
3	Katie Raleigh	2:10.04
5	Gabby Hyson	2:12.64
1650 Yard Freestyle (Finals)
1	^ Sofia Pereira	17.18.14
6	Ella Humbert	18:40.95
9	Maddie Ray	19:20.43
200 Yard Backstroke (Finals)
5	Paola Curet-Torres	2:11.97
100 Yard Freestyle (Finals)
1	Noelie Lacour	52.30
3	Kennice Greene	52.76
T6	Naekeisha Louis	53.18
T6	Fabiana Pesce	53.18
9	Ting-Yu Pan	53.94
200 Yard Breaststroke (Finals)
1	% ^ $ Benedetta Pepe Pugliese	2:16.38
5	Kaeleigh Cupples	2:27.65
11	Ella Humbert	2:37.37
200 Yard Butterfly (Finals)
3	Katie Raleigh	2:10.29
4	Fatima Portillo	2:10.89
5	Gabby Hyson	2:11.02
400 Yard Freestyle Relay
1	$ UNC Pembroke 'A' - Kennice Greene, Fabiana Pesce, Noelie Lacour, Britta Schwengle	3:28.44
$ - School Record ^ - NCAA B Standard Time % - Conference Carolinas Meet Record