FAIRFAX, Va. – Sophomore Ilia Rattsev (Moscow, Russia) set a Patriot Invitational record as the UMBC swimming and diving teams wrapped up another strong day of the competition on the final day of the Invite. The men finished in fifth place with 501 points, while the women finished in seventh with 261 points.
Drexel claimed the men's title with 779 points, finishing just ahead of UNCW with 749.5. The host Patriots (658.5) and Seton Hall (565) finished three-four, just ahead of UMBC at fifth. Florida Atlantic (396), American (120), and Shippensburg (59) rounded out the eight-team field.
Rattsev's record-setting performance came in the 100 free, where he touched in with a time of 44.81. He breaks the record of 44.92 set back in 2015 by former Retriever Gregor Spoerlein.
Rattsev, along with Philip Adejumo, Connor Ganley, and Alexander Gliese took seventh place in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:06.83.
Gliese took home silver in the 200 back with a time of 1:48.46, while Adejumo placed fifth in the championship final of the 200 fly with a time of 1:51.51.
In the 1,650 free, UMBC picked up two top ten finishes as freshman Kai Wisner (Syracuse, N.Y.) earned gold with a time of 15:43.14, while senior Haythem Abdelkhalek (Ariana, Tunisia) finished sixth with a time of 16:09.77. Kyle Paxton (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) earned an eighth place finish in the 200 breast, touching in with a time of 2:06.25.
UNCW won the women's title with 850 points, followed by Drexel with 756.5. Florida Atlantic and Seton Hall went three-four with 564 and 453 points each. George Mason (396.5) and Richmond (353) place just ahead of UMBC (261) in seventh. American (232) and Shippensburg (7) rounded out the field.
On the women's side, junior Hania Moro (New Cairo, Egypt) finished fourth in the 1,650 free, touching in with a time of 17:01.28. Freshman Natalija Marin (Belgrade, Serbia) earned a seventh place finish in the 200 fly after finishing with a time of 2:03.98.
The Retrievers will head to Florida in December for their annual training trip, before hosting Howard and America East member Vermont on January 6 at 2 p.m.
