ATLANTA (Feb. 25, 2017) – For the third-straight year, the FIU swimming and diving team was crowned the Conference USA Champion, finishing the four-day event with 922.5 points – the fourth-highest score in C-USA history.
In all, FIU broke nine school records, claimed 15 first-place finishes and registered 40 all-conference honors.
The Panthers finished 173.5 points ahead of second-place Rice (749) followed by Marshall (724), North Texas (435.5), Old Dominion (326) and Florida Atlantic (221). Head Coach
Randy Horner was named the C-USA Coach of the Year – his third-straight award, while
Kyna Pereira earned C-USA Swimmer of the Meet honors, tallying four gold medals. The junior defended her title in the 500 Free and set a new school record in the 200 Free (1:46.16), while leading her squad to a win in the 800 Free Relay.
Heading into the final day of action with a 140-point lead, FIU won six more events on Saturday, while 10 more Panther names were added to the all-conference list.
Pereira got things started for the Panthers, winning the 1650 Free, sporting an NCAA B standard time of 16:27.48.
Rebecca Quesnel defended her title in the Platform program, posting a 286.25 (NCAA Zone B qualifying score).
Skye Carey took first in the 200 Back with an NCAA B standard qualifying time of 1:58.64 for FIU's third-straight, first-place finish of the day.
Letizia Bertelli followed that up with a first-place finish in the 100 Free, setting the school record with a time of 49.22.
In the 200 Breast,
Carita Luukkanen placed second with a time of 2:12.75. The time was a personal best for the native of Lambere, Finland, and marked the best time by a Panther this season.
Jennifer Deist claimed gold in the 200 Fly, winning the event by nearly three seconds with a time 1:58.93. The time was a career-best for Deist and the second-fastest time in school history.
The Panthers closed out the 2017 C-USA Championships, winning the 400 Free Relay. The team of Deist,
Marie Lauridsen, Bertelli and
Naomi Ruele claimed gold with a time of 3:17.15, winning the events by just under four seconds.
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/.
