MIAMI (Jan. 6, 2017) – The Panthers placed first in 14 events and swept the top three spots in 10 of them during the 15-event FIU Sprint Invitational on Friday afternoon from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center.
Posting 955 points, FIU took first, 382.5 points ahead of second-place Binghamton. Rounding out the field were American (342), Adelphi (190), Scranton (183.5), Keiser (117.5), the College of Staten Island (79) and Cazenovia College (59.5).
Of the 14 first-place results,
Letizia Bertelli accounted for five of them. The native of Cremona, Italy, swam the third leg of the 200 Medley Relay as she and
Skye Carey,
Taylor Grabenhorst and
Jennifer Deist took first with a 1:45.62. Bertelli also claimed the top spot in the 50 Fly with a time of 25.65. FIU swept that event as Deist (26.05) and
Jennifer Alfani (26.35) took second and third, respectively.
Bertelli won her third event of the day, scoring a 53.08 in the 100 Free. It was once again an event swept by the Panthers as
Berta Triola (53.71) finished second and Deist (54.19) placed third. In the 100 Fly, Bertelli claimed first with a time of 57.60, followed by teammates Deist (58.21) and
Megan Bowen (59.50). Bertelli recorded her fifth win of the day, swimming the lead leg of the 200 Free Relay. Along with
Ally Mayhew,
Marie Lauridsen and Deist, the team registered a time of 1:37.11 for the victory.
Carey and Grabenhorst, who each were a part of first-place relay teams, also picked up individual victories. Carey took first in the 100 IM with a time of 1:00.05 ahead of Grabenhorst (second - 1:00.10) and
Carita Luukkanen (third - 1:00.39). Grabenhorst registered her second victory of the day with 30.72 in the 50 Breast as FIU swept another event with Luukkanen (30.92) in second and
Chase Harris (31.36) in third.
In the 200 Free, the Panthers took the top three spots as Triola recorded the meet's top time of 1:54.52 followed by Bertelli (1:55.44) and Lauridsen (1:58.44).
Luukkanen placed first in the 100 Back (59.34) and Bowen had the fastest time in the 400 Free (4:01.79).
FIU took first, second, and third in both the 50 Free and the 50 Back.
Naomi Ruele posted the fastest time in the 50 Free (23.81) followed by Bowen (24.61) and
Kyna Pereira (24.80). Alfani took the top spot in the 50 Back (26.93) followed by Carey (26.99) and Luukkanen (27.57).
During the diving portion of the meet, FIU placed in the top three in both the 1-meter and 3-meter programs. In the 1-meter,
Brittany Haskell posted a career-best score of 301.65 to win the event.
Rebecca Quesnel finished second with a 287.95 followed by
Brooke Bouchard, who scored a 255.70. Both scores by Haskell and Quesnel were NCAA Zone B Qualifying marks.
Laura Coronado scored a career-best 274.30 in the 3-meter for the first-place finish. Haskell claimed second (265.05) and Bouchard placed third (261.60).
The Panthers will host the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles on Saturday, Jan. 28. The meet will begin at 12:00 p.m. from the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Center.
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/.
