ATLANTA (Feb. 23, 2017) – Recording 264 points on Thursday, the FIU swimming and diving team extended its lead at the 2017 Conference USA Swimming and Diving Championships from the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The Panthers (344 points) hold a 93-point advantage over second-place Marshall (251) after two days of action.
Kyna Pereira defended her title in the 500 Free, posting a 4:47.45 for her second gold of the championships. Thursday's time was the second-fastest of the season for the native of Umkomaas, South Africa, who set the school record earlier this season with a time of 4:43.81 (Nov. 18 at the Louisville Invitational).
Megan Bowen claimed the silver in the 500 Free, posting a career-best 4:49.52.
Carita Luukkanen had FIU's top finish in the 200 IM, scoring a career-best 2:01.46 to finish fourth. Her time in the championships shattered the previous personal-best for the native of Lambere, Finland, by nine seconds (2:10.53).
The Panthers took two of the top three spots in the 50 Free as
Letizia Bertelli placed first with a time of 22.34 and
Jennifer Deist finished third notching a 22.60. Bertelli's time was a personal-best and was just 11 tenths of a second off the school and meet record set by teammate
Naomi Ruele (22.23) during last year's championships. Both times for Bertelli and Deist were NCAA B qualifying marks.
In the 3-Meter program,
Rebecca Quesnel placed third with a season-best score 306.60.
The Panthers wrapped up the second day of competition with a first-place finish in the 200 Free Relay. The team of Ruele, Bertelli,
Jennifer Alfani and Deist, set the school record with a time of 1:29.68, while becoming the program's second team to qualify for the NCAA Championships (March 15-18).
After two days of championships action, FIU has won five of the seven total events, while 17 Panthers have earned all-conference honors.
Day three of this year's championships take place on Friday, Feb. 24, beginning at 10:30 a.m. with the prelims of the 400 IM, 100 Fly, 200 Free, 100 Breast, 100 Back and 1-Meter Diving Program.
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/.
