IRVING, Texas (Jan. 3, 2017) – For the fourth week this season, FIU swimming and diving swept the Conference USA weekly honors as
Letizia Bertelli and
Rebecca Quesnel were named the C-USA Swimmer and Diver of the Week, respectively, the league announced on Tuesday.
Bertelli and Quesnel helped FIU take two of three during the FIU Quad-Meet on Thursday, Jan. 29, defeating Cornell, 177-122, and Calvin College, 240-57. With their performances, FIU improved to 9-2 in dual meets on the year and 6-1 at the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center.
The native of Cremona, Italy, claimed three second-place finishes and one third during last week's meet. Bertelli (along with teammates
Naomi Ruele,
Taylor Grabenhorst and
Jennifer Deist) took second in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:44.67. Bertelli then claimed third in the 50 Free with a 23.88 – her fifth time under 24.00 this season. She claimed second in both the 100 Free and 100 Fly. In the 100 Free, Bertelli posted her fastest time at home this season (52.40), while in the 100 Fly she notched her fourth top-two finish in the event this season, scoring a time of 56.28.
Bertelli currently owns the fastest times in both the 100 Free (49.32) and 100 Fly (53.91) in Conference USA this season.
The honor marks the first of Bertelli's FIU career.
Quesnel took second place in both the 1-meter and 3-meter programs last week.
The native of Burlington, Ontario, scored the team-high marks in both diving programs. Scoring a 254.60 in the 1-meter program, Quesnel posted her fifth top-three finish. She also recorded her sixth top-three performance in the 3-meter with a score of 258.25.
Quesnel currently owns the top scores in both the 1-meter (296.25) and the 3-meter (301.65) in Conference USA this season. She is the only C-USA diver to win the weekly award multiple times, claiming the honor five times this season.
The award is the 16th of Quesnel's career.
The Panthers will host the FIU Sprint Invite on Friday, Jan. 6. Start time from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center is set for 1:00 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Twitter (@FIUSwimDive) and become a fan on Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSwimmingAndDiving) for all the latest Swimming and Diving news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
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About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.
About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
