NAIA Top Ten Coaches' Poll

Kansas City, MO – Coming off their third straight Mid-South Conference championship, the Patriots men's swimming & diving team 18 times that rank in the top-ten of the NAIA to be ranked third in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll, announced by the national office Friday.  UC earned 608.42 points to remain in the top three, while 11 Patriots swimmers have qualified for the NAIA National Championships taking place next week.

Cumberlands has five swimmers that rank in the top-ten in multiple events.  Kacper Sobieszuk, the MSC Swimmer of the Year, has a trio of top-16 marks this season.  He currently holds the top-time in the NAIA in the 200 fly after breaking the conference record, clocking a 1:49.57.  The freshman touched the wall in 50.10 in the 100 fly to be ranked tenth, and his 1:54.35 in the 200 IM is 16^th in the country.

Enzo Esteves holds Cumberlands other top time as he went 20.11 in the 50 free to win the conference title.  He is also ranked 12^th in the 100 free (46.07), while Julio Heck da Silva holds the seventh fastest time in the 50 free with a mark of 20.73. 

Ruben Gonzalez de Oliveira and Martin Herion have multiple top-ten marks.  Gonzalez de Oliveira is ranked second in the 200 free as he touched the wall in 1:39.58, while his conference championship time in the 100 free of 45.75 is ranked tenth.  The freshman also holds the 11^th fastest time in the NAIA in the 200 IM as he went 1:53.14. Herion is ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 200 fly and 500 free.  The Liege, Belgium native has posted times of 1:51.30 for the 200 fly and went 4:36.43 in the 500 free to win the conference title.

John Morgan McDonald has notched a pair of times that are ranked ninth in their respective events.  He has gone 4:37.60 in the 500 and has tallied a season-best time of 16:15.59 in the 1650 free.  Mikolaj Kala, the two time conference champion this year, has clocked a 2:02.06 in the 200 breast, which ranks sixth in the country, while his 56.36 in the 100 breast is also a top-ten time.  Andres Caicedo is UC's final individual top-ten mark as he has gone 1:52.97 in the 200 IM.

Cumberlands has four of their five relays ranked in the top-five of the NAIA, led by their 200 free relay, which is ranked second with a time of 1:22.32.

In addition to those swimmers, Creed Farthing, Daniel Ruiz Ramis, and Nathan Souza also qualified for the Patriots.

Keiser earned 678.37 points to remain ranked atop the poll, while St. Thomas, St. Ambrose, and Milligan round out the top five.  MSC rival Campbellsville is ranked tenth in the poll.

UC will return the water, Wednesday, March 2^nd, when they travel to Columbus, GA for the NAIA National Championship.

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics, please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on Twitter - @UC_Patriots, Instagram - @UCPatriots, YouTube – Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.