Barbourville, KY – The sixth-ranked UC women's swimming & diving team showed why they have consistently been one of the best teams in the NAIA over the past decade with four wins and 16 NAIA national cuts to open the Bulldogs Invitational Friday night.  The Patriots sit atop the team leaderboard with 452.5 points over six event lineup for the day.

UC opened finals with Rebecca Loftus, Anastasiia Shatalova, Aurora Stavoy, and Hanne te Velthuis winning the 200 free relay.  The Patriots touched the wall in 1:37.56, which is the fastest time in the NAIA this season. 

The Patriots had multiple swimmers achieve NAIA national cuts in each of the three individual events on the day. After earning the top-seed in the 500 free finals with a time of 5:16.10, Ali Pecore duplicated her performance in the finals pulling away to win the event by five seconds.  The Oshkosh, WI native clock a 5:06.21, which is a NAIA "A" standard and is the fastest time in the NAIA by over six seconds. 

Teammate Leah Thomas notched an 11 second season best as she touched the wall in 5:22.25 to place seventh in the event.  Elise Weiler tallied a 5:31.76 to finish ninth in the event.

Maria Basto continues to build on her breakout season as she took top honors in the 200 IM.  The sophomore went 2:10.91 to post the fastest time in prelims and dropped almost two seconds to clock a 2:09.00 to win the finals.  That time is the fastest time in the NAIA this season.  Basto also led off the Patriots 400 medley relay with a 57.80 split for the 100 back, which is a season-best.

Three other Patriots achieved NAIA provisional cuts in the event.  Despite posting a season-best time of 2:14.89 in the prelims, Ashley Shoenlein and Allison Lovell both touched the wall in 2:15.37 to finish tied for fourth in the event. Emilia Martinez Morales placed eighth in the event with a season-best time of 2:16.79.

A slew of Patriots achieved the NAIA provisional cut in the 50 free led by te Velthuis, who clocked a 24.50, which is the second fastest time this season, to place third.  Shatalova dropped almost a second of her previous season-best to go 24.80 and place fourth in the event.  Stavoy placed seventh after going 24.89 in the finals.  Riley Ceruiera and Austyn Crawford rounded out the top ten for the Patriots after going 25.27 and 25.55, respectively.  Loftus touched the wall in 25.04 to win the consolation heat as Holly Gabriel notched her first national cut with a time of 25.57.

Cumberlands closed out the day with the group of Basto, Isabella Cooksey, Sara Ovely, and te Veltuis posting a runner-up finish in the 400 medley relay.  The group went 3:58.61, which is eight seconds faster than the national standard and the second fastest time this season.

Cumberlands will return to the water Saturday for the second day of competition at the Bulldogs Invitational.  Prelims set to begin at 10 a.m., while the finals will start at 6 p.m.

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