ATLANTA (Feb. 24, 2017) – Moving ever so closer to claiming its third-straight Conference USA title, the FIU swimming and diving extended its lead over second-place Rice following the third day of action at this year's C-USA Swimming and Diving Championships from the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on Friday.
The Panthers, who have led the entire championship, increased their lead to 140 point following a day in which FIU won four events and placed 13 more names on the all-conference list this season.
In the 100 Fly,
Jennifer Deist set the school record with a time of 53.02, shattering her previous best of 54.06 two years ago (Feb. 21, 2015), while claiming this year's conference title. Teammate
Letizia Bertelli took second with a time of 53.38. Both athletes' times were NCAA B standard qualifying marks.
In the 1-Meter competition,
Rebecca Quesnel and
Brittany Haskell place second and third, respectively. Both Panthers registered scores that met NCAA Zone B diving standards as Quesnel posted a 279.80 and Haskell totaled a 272.80.
FIU swept the top three spots in the 200 Free as
Kyna Pereira (1:46.16),
Skye Carey (1:46.71) and
Megan Bowen (1:47.69) combined to score 53 points for the Panthers. Pereira took first by breaking her school record of 1:46.46, set during last year's C-USA Championships. All three times met NCAA B standards.
Carita Luukkanen took second in the 100 Breast with a with a school-record time of 1:00.74, breaking the previous mark set by
Jessica Chadwick at the 2015 C-USA Championships (1:02.80).
Naomi Ruele set a personal-best in the 100 Back, winning the event with a time of 52.87. She then led the 400 Medley Relay team with Luukkanen, Deist, and Bertelli to a first-place finish with a school-record time of 3:35.93. With the victory, FIU remains perfect in relays at this year's championships, winning all four events with the 400 Free Relay remaining.
Through three days, FIU has claimed nine first-place finishes in 14 events, while claiming all-conference honors 30 times.
The final day of action begins at 10:30 a.m. with the prelims of 200 Back, 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly and Platform 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/.
